Number of workplace shootings double: anti-gun group

Nearly 70 workers killed in 45 workplace shootings last year; homicide is the leading cause of injury-related death in the American workplace: report

The number of workplace shootings in the United States nearly doubled in 2003, according to a report by an anti-handgun group.

The report “Terror Nine to Five: Guns in the American Workplace, 1994-2003” found that from 2002 to 2003 the number of workplace shootings virtually doubled from 25 to 45 and the number of people killed in workplace shootings increased from 33 to 69.

“The Department of Justice estimates that employees are murdering their supervisors at a rate of three to four per month — twice as many as in 1985 — and workplace violence has been listed as an official epidemic in the United States since 1993,” the report by Handgun-Free America stated. “In the 1990s homicides in the workplace overtook other causes of injury-related death in the workplace.”

The group said between 1994 and 2003 there were 164 workplace shootings in the U.S., with a total of 290 killed and 161 wounded.

Reasons for the increase

The group pointed blame for gunplay at work squarely at the overabundance of guns and in America.

“It can be argued that a combination of work-related stress, decreasing wages and a fluctuating labour market have contributed to many incidents of workplace violence,” the report stated. “One thing is certain. The overabundance of guns in America and the easy access we have to them make workplace incidents far worse and more violent. Today, more than 75 per cent of all workplace homicides are committed with firearms and the easy access to guns in America certainly contributes to this.”

Typical offenders

People who shoot and kill coworkers share a number of similar characteristics, the report argued.

The most common factor uncovered in those who resort to shooting coworkers and supervisors is employment status. Offenders are likely to be employees who have recently experienced a negative change in employment status, including those who have been fired, whose contracts have not been renewed or who have been suspended because of a dispute with management.

According to the data collected, 51.8 per cent of those who instigated workplace shootings were recently fired, suspended or experienced some other actual or perceived negative change in employment status. (The 51.8 per cent figure includes 23.8 per cent who were fired or laid off and 28 per cent who were demoted, suspended or involved with some type of financial dispute with supervisors.)

Some employees were fired after they were found stealing from the company. Others became enraged after being assigned a shift or work schedule they were unhappy with. A case in 1999 in Atlanta involved an investment broker who lost $400,000 in one day and then shot 12 other brokers to death and wounded 13 others in addition to killing his wife and two children. Among the other employment-related reasons for turning violent on coworkers and supervisors were being turned down for a promotion or being told to take the rest of the day off.

At least 13.4 per cent of the cases reviewed in the survey indicated the shooter had a publicly known history of mental-health concerns. A further 9.1 per cent of the shooters displayed warning signs prior to the shootings, warning signs that were usually ignored by those who noticed them.

“This behaviour ranges from previous incidents of violence at the workplace to a shooter directly warning someone that something is going to happen,” the report stated.

One of the most glaring examples of this was a May 17, 1995, incident at a Union Butterfield plant in Asheville, N.C. the report said. In that incident, James Davis returned after being fired, killing three supervisors and wounding a fourth. Prior to being let go, Davis had repeatedly picked fights at the warehouse where he worked and had actually told colleagues he would kill his bosses if he was ever fired.

Typical offender over 40, hardly ever female

More than half (56.9 per cent) of offenders were 40 or older, and 80.3 per cent were 30 or older.

The youngest perpetrators were 20 and the oldest was 73.

There is a large difference between women and men when it comes to workplace shootings. The overwhelming majority of workplace shooters — 91.6 per cent — are male. Men are also more likely than women to commit suicide after their shootings, the report stated. While 35.8 per cent of men who shot at coworkers and supervisors committed suicide after their killings, only one woman (or 7.1 per cent of the 14 female shooters) ended her rampage by taking her own life.

Another cause: Romances going south

While the motive for workplace shootings is not always discovered, in some cases a romance gone sour has ended in death.

At least eight of the incidents reviewed in the report involved either a love triangle within the office or a coworker refusing the offender’s romantic advances.

Domestic violence spilling over from the home into the workplace is another source of many workplace shootings. At least 13.4 per cent of the incidents reviewed involved some type of domestic violence as the motive. Usually it is men killing their current or former wives or girlfriends, but it also includes shooters who killed a person thought to be having an affair with their significant other.

Blue and white-collar shootings

From 1994 to 2003, 31.7 per cent of workplace shootings happened in a white-collar job setting, accounting for 31.4 per cent of all workplace shooting deaths.

They also occur in both large and small companies, from multinational organizations with tens of thousands of employees to mom and pop shops with just two or three.

The most violent states

California and Florida are the most violent states for workers, according to the report.

More American workers were killed by coworkers in California than in any other state. Between 1994 and 2003, 21 workplace shooting incidents took place in California, leaving 50 dead and 25 wounded.

Florida had a total of 20 workplace shootings and 38 deaths during the same period. Below is a list of the leading states in workplace shootings from 1994 to 2003.

StateIncidentsKilledWounded
California215025
Florida203816
Pennsylvania11227
Texas10325
Ohio101310


Handgun-Free America took a look at workplace violence by assembling a database of as many shooting incidents as could be discovered by searching news articles throughout the U.S. beginning in 1994. Key words such as “workplace shooting” and “disgruntled employee” were entered into LexisNexis and Google News, which returned relevant articles.

Handgun-Free America is a Arlington, Va.-based non-profit organization lobbying to have handguns banned in the U.S. For more information about the report, visit www.workplaceshootings.org.

To read the full story, login below.

Not a subscriber?

Start your subscription today!