On a tragic day, March 6, 1998, Michael T. Logan, a 33-year-old White Caucasian male, lost his life in a horrific workplace shooting at the Connecticut Lottery headquarters in Newington, Connecticut. Logan, a resident of Colchester and an information systems manager, had been a dedicated employee at the lottery for approximately two years. He had started as a data processing technical analyst in 1996 and, due to his hard work, was promoted to a management position in 1997.
The
perpetrator of this senseless act was Matthew E. Beck, a 35-year-old accountant at the same company. Beck, who had been on medical leave for stress and was reportedly unhappy with his job, entered the building armed with a 9-millimeter Glock handgun and a hunting knife. He then began a violent rampage, targeting his colleagues. In addition to Michael T. Logan, three other high-level employees were fatally shot: Otho R. Brown, 54, the President; Linda A. Mlynarczyk, 37, the Chief Financial Officer; and Frederick W. Rubelmann III, 40, the Vice President of Operations.
After the shootings within the building, Beck pursued President Otho Brown into the parking lot. It was there that he was confronted by police who had arrived at the scene. Faced with capture, Beck turned the gun on himself, ending his own life. The devastating event left the community in shock and prompted significant changes in workplace violence prevention. In the wake of this tragedy, Connecticut became the first state to enact a "red flag" law, which allows for the temporary removal of firearms from individuals who are deemed a danger to themselves or others. Michael T. Logan was survived by his wife, Margaret, and their two young children, who were five and two years old at the time of his death.
