13:30CST/13:30EST - 05 Feb 2001Series of EmergencyNet News "Real-Time" Reports Concerning A Multiple Shooting in Melrose Park, IL - 05 Feb 2001
Excerpted from: ERRI EMERGENCY SERVICES REPORT-EmergencyNet NEWS Service-Tuesday, February 6, 2001-Vol. 5, No. 037-08:30CST
ILLINOIS
Summary of Events
Five Dead In Plant Shooting Near Chicago
Just one day before he was to report to federal prison, a former factory worker who had been caught stealing from a Navistar engine plant opened fire and killed four people before turning the gun on himself. The man had forced his way past security in the suburban Chicago plant and randomly opened fire on the victims that included four wounded.
Police in the west Chicago suburb of Melrose Park said that 66-year-old William D Baker showed up at the plant with an arsenal of weapons in a golf bag and forced his way through the huge, two-million-square-foot building, blasting away with a Russian-made AK-47 assault rifle. Baker shot seven people, three of them fatally, in an engineering area, then went into an office, where he killed one more person and then shot himself.
Baker had been scheduled to surrender Tuesday to serve a five-month federal sentence for conspiracy to commit theft from an interstate shipment. He pleaded guilty last June, six years after he was fired from the plant.
Police said the shooting erupted at 0944 CST. The first Melrose Park police officer reached the scene within 38 seconds of receiving the call. A Franklin Park police officer also arrived on the scene as backup. According to police, Baker showed up at the plant with his weapons in a golf bag. When a security guard challenged his entrance into the plant, Baker put a .38-caliber detective- special revolver to her side and forced his way into the building located near the intersection of Mannheim Road and Armitage Avenue.
Once inside the plant, Baker fired the assault rifle. He also carried a shotgun and a .30-caliber hunting rifle in addition to the revolver. Police were not sure whether the additional weapons had been used by Baker. Reporters out- side of Baker's home in Carol Stream, Illinois, saw police remove a long-barreled rifle from Baker's town-home.
Of the wounded victims, one was in critical condition. He was identified as a 45-year-old man who was shot in the abdomen.
Baker was a tool room attendant who had worked at the plant for 39 years before he was fired in 1994. According to his plea agreement, Baker admitted helping a fellow plant employee steal diesel engines and components worth $195,400. He used his forklift to hoist the engines onto a truck driven by the other employee. The thefts began in the fall of 1993 and stopped the next spring. Baker was sentenced on 7 November. He had faced five months of house arrest after his prison term and, perhaps more importantly, had been ordered to repay the $195,400.
INSTANT
13:30CST/13:30EST - 05 Feb 2001
Medical Examiner's Office Says A Total of Five (5) Dead in Plant Shooting
Melrose Park, IL (EmergencyNet News) -- According to reports emanating from the Office of the Cook County Medical Examiner, a total of five people have died as the result of the shooting this morning at the Navistar plant near Armitage and Mannheim Rd. in Melrose Park, IL. The identities of the dead and injured have not yet been released, pending the appropriate notifications of the next of kin. Few other official details are currently being made available until a press conference that is currently scheduled for 15:00CST/16:00EST. ERRI continues to monitor the situation...
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INSTANT
11:50CST/12:50EST - 05 Feb 2001
Workplace Shooting Near Chicago; Four Dead
Melrose Park, IL (EmergencyNet News Special Report) -- A gunman opened fire in a huge Navistar manufacturing plant in Melrose Park, IL, on Monday morning. One 48-year-old man was confirmed dead by hospital officials. The Mayor of Melrose Park, Rod Serpico, is now confirming that a total of four (4) people are dead as the result of the incident.
Another man, said to be 45-years-old, was said to be in critical condition with a gunshot wound to the abdomen. This victim is currently undergoing emergency surgery at Gottlieb Memorial Hospital in Melrose Park.
Three other people were wounded in the shooting that occurred just before 10:00CST. A 24-year-old man was reported in critical condition at Loyola Medical Center in Maywood, Illinois, with gunshot wound to the chest. A 26-year-old man was also taken to Loyola in fair condition with a graze wound to his left arm. The condition of a third victim is unknown.
The situation at the plant remains fluid. Details were mostly sketchy and unconfirmed. One person who works in the plant said that the shooter was allegedly a former Navistar employee who was fired two years ago for "stealing engines or engine parts." The perpetrator reportedly shot the victims and turned the gun on himself. The shooter's condition is not officially known at this time. It was rumored that the the shooter was armed with an a "long-gun and a pistol."
Other witnesses reported seeing the suspect prior to the shooting at a local diner wearing a backpack with a gun protruding from it. He ate a meal and left. Currently, an unidentified backpack has been found outside the plant. Police are concerned that the backpack may be booby-trapped. Also of concern to authorities is finding the car of the shooter. The vehicle, when found, will be checked by the Cook County Sheriff's Department bomb squad.
The plant is located about 15 miles west of Chicago and is about two million-square feet with 1,400 employees.
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11:00CST - 05 Feb 2001
At least Three People Reported Shot At Engine Manufacturing Plant
Melrose Park, IL (EmergencyNet News) -- Early and as yet unconfirmed reports are saying that three people have been shot this morning in a manufacturing plant in Melrose Park, IL. Few official details are so-far forthcoming, as the investigation of the incident is on-going at the time of this report. EMS personnel are thought to have transported at least three people from the factory to area hospitals. Hospital officials are saying that one person was declared "dead on arrival" (DOA). Police have sealed the plant and declared it a "crime scene," and a thorough search of the building is underway. EmergencyNet News will bring you additional coverage if/when additional information becomes available...
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