Omar Thornton

Mass Murderer

Omar Thornton and the 2010 Hartford Distributors Massacre

Background

Omar Sheriff Thornton was a 34-year-old delivery driver employed by Hartford Distributors, a family-owned beer and wine distribution company located at 131 Chapel Road in Manchester, Connecticut. On the morning of August 3, 2010, Thornton carried out a workplace shooting that killed eight of his coworkers and wounded two other men before he died by suicide. Nine people, including Thornton, died during the incident, making it one of the deadliest workplace shootings in Connecticut history. Thornton had worked for Hartford Distributors for approximately two years. Before the massacre, company officials had arranged a disciplinary meeting after a private investigator reportedly recorded Thornton taking beer from a delivery truck and transferring it to another vehicle. He was also suspected of improperly removing empty beer kegs. Thornton was instructed to attend a meeting at the company's Manchester warehouse on August 3, although coworkers later said he apparently had not been told exactly why the meeting had been scheduled.

The Disciplinary Meeting

Thornton arrived for work carrying a lunchbox in which he had concealed two 9-millimeter semiautomatic pistols, a Ruger SR9 and a Ruger P95. He entered a meeting with Hartford Distributors general manager Steven Hollander, operations supervisor Louis Jeffrey Felder and union representative Bryan Cirigliano. During the meeting, company officials confronted Thornton with evidence that he had stolen company property. Thornton was given the choice of being terminated or resigning. He signed resignation paperwork after asking how the separation would affect future employment references and when he would receive his final paycheck. Witnesses described him as calm during the meeting. Afterward, Hollander, Felder and Cirigliano began escorting him from the building.

The Shooting Begins

While being escorted through the facility, Thornton said that he wanted to stop for a drink of water and entered a kitchen area. Felder followed him while Hollander and Cirigliano continued into the hallway. Thornton removed the Ruger SR9 from his lunchbox and began firing shortly after approximately 7:30 a.m. Felder was fatally shot near the kitchen. Hollander was struck by a bullet that grazed his face and arm, but he survived. Thornton then entered the hallway and shot Cirigliano, who was mortally wounded. The attack quickly moved from the office section of the building into the company's large warehouse, where employees were beginning their morning work. Inside the warehouse, Thornton shot forklift operator Douglas Scruton. Scruton's forklift continued moving after he was struck, crashed into a wall and caught fire. Thornton then shot Victor James and Craig Pepin. Employees fled between rows of stored products, hid wherever they could or escaped through exits as gunfire echoed through the facility. Thornton pursued Francis Fazio through part of the warehouse toward an area near a trash compactor, where William Ackerman was working. Both Fazio and Ackerman were fatally shot. Thornton later entered an area known as the breakage room and wounded Edwin Kennison. Kennison attempted to escape outside, but Thornton followed him and shot him again near the lobby entrance, killing him. During the attack, Jerome Rosenstein was traveling through the property on a golf cart when Thornton fired at him. Rosenstein was struck several times but survived. Thornton passed other workers during the massacre without shooting them, demonstrating that he was selecting some of his targets rather than firing indiscriminately at everyone he encountered. ...

Confirmed Victims: (8)

William Carl Ackerman 51 yr old Male

Hartford Distributors shooting - Wikipedia