Shortly after midnight on June 25th, a heated argument between an employee and his boss resulted in a gun massacre at a factory in Kentucky. The employee went home to retrieve a gun then returned to the company and shot and killed five fellow employees before killing himself.
Police say worker went home to get gun before Ky. factory shooting spree
HENDERSON, Ky. – An employee shot five people dead at a plastics plant before killing himself early Wednesday, police said.
The rampage occurred after a worker at Atlantis Plastics argued with a supervisor, Henderson police Lt. David Piller said.
The employee had returned home to retrieve a handgun during a break, police said.
NBC affiliate WFIE reported that witnesses initially heard a shot come from outside the plant. The gunman then came inside the building and began shooting at random.
Atlantis Plastics CEO Bud Philbrook described the killings as a “total shock.”
Philbrook said the employee had argued with a supervisor around midnight, then shot the supervisor before opening fire in a break room. Police said the shooter ended the rampage by killing himself.
Victims were found scattered around the plant, Piller said “It appears the shooting was random at this time,” he added.
There were 34 employees in the building at the time of the shooting, WFIE reported.
The plant employs about 150 people and makes parts for refrigerators and plastic siding for homes.
In a news release on the company’s Web site, Atlantis Plastics says it is a leading U.S. manufacturer of three kinds of products: polyethylene stretch films for wrapping pallets of materials, custom films for industrial and packaging uses, and molded plastic pieces used in products such as appliances and recreational vehicles.
As we have noted, the Supreme Court is set to release its decision on the DC handgun ban in the case District of Columbia v. Heller, literally any day now.
We can only hope that the Supreme Court justices consider the real world impact of lax gun laws and the consequences of America’s gun violence epidemic. This recent gun massacre in Kentucky is a stark reminder that the debate over the Second Amendment is not a theoretical discussion, but, in fact, the nexus of government’s responsibility and duty to protect its citizens from all forms of violence.
We were awaiting the Supreme Court’s ruling this morning. (And they could release the opinion at any time). Perhaps the justices opened their newspapers today and saw an ugly part of America — the part where people are continuing to die from shootings, communities that are flooded with firearms, and our country that is less safe because of our lax gun laws.
Just maybe the justices thought twice about their perspective on the Second Amendment today.
