Four dead in shooting at plant
Police believe upset worker killed three, committed suicide
ST. LOUIS – A disgruntled worker embroiled in a pension dispute with his company showed up at the plant and opened fire Thursday, killing three people and wounding five before apparently killing himself.
The shooting spree at ABB Group’s plant sent frightened co-workers scrambling into closets and to the snow-covered roof for safety.
Police declined to name the gunman, but media widely identified him as 51-year-old Timothy Hendron, of Webster Groves, a St. Louis suburb.
Police said a man believed to be the gunman was found dead inside the plant from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
“We’re very confident that this is the shooter,” police Chief Dan Isom said at a news conference.
The shooting began at 6:30 a.m. at the plant where the Swiss-owned company makes electrical transformers. Police spent hours inside the sprawling building searching for the gunman and additional victims.
The motive for the shooting wasn’t known, and Isom said it may be weeks before police piece together why it happened. But in 2006, Hendron and other ABB workers sued the company over retirement losses. The federal lawsuit accused ABB and its pension-review committee of causing their 401(k) accounts to include investment options with “unreasonable and excessive” – and undisclosed – fees and expenses. The suit went to trial Tuesday in Kansas City.