John Parish

Mass Murderer

John Felton Parish and the 1982 Grand Prairie Warehouse Massacre

Background

John Felton Parish was a 49-year-old truck driver who carried out a deadly workplace rampage in Grand Prairie, Texas, on August 9, 1982. During approximately 25 minutes of violence, Parish killed six people at two warehouse facilities, wounded three others by gunfire, hijacked a tractor-trailer, seriously injured a police officer during a high-speed pursuit, and died in a shootout with law enforcement. Parish had worked as a truck driver for about 20 years, including jobs in Missouri, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, and Texas. He previously worked for the Jewel-T warehouse before joining Western Transportation Company in September 1980. Although some former supervisors described him as easygoing, employees at Jewel-T reportedly considered him difficult. Warehouse supervisor Richard T. Svoboda had asked that Parish be removed from a transportation contract involving Jewel-T, preventing him from making further deliveries there. By August 1982, Parish was also experiencing serious personal and financial problems. He was estranged from his wife, had recently lost a child-custody dispute, and believed Western Transportation owed him approximately $1,600 in unpaid wages. Company supervisor Eddie Eugene Ulrich rejected the claim, maintaining that Parish had received less money because he had worked fewer hours or completed fewer assignments.

The Western Transportation Shootings

At approximately 8:02 a.m. on Monday, August 9, 1982, Parish arrived at a Western Transportation facility in downtown Grand Prairie. He was armed with a shortened M1 carbine, a .38-caliber revolver, and a .25-caliber semiautomatic pistol. Parish entered the building to confront Eddie Ulrich about the disputed wages. The discussion quickly became violent. Parish opened fire, killing Ulrich and two other employees, truck driver Martin Douglas Moran and operations manager Moody Charles Smith. Parish then took a company bobtail truck and drove approximately half a block to another Western Transportation office. Inside that building, he shot and killed executive secretary Wyvonne Kohler. He also shot receptionist Ruth James in the shoulder and neck and wounded operations manager Burnett Hart in the head. During the attack, Parish temporarily held office worker Vicki Smallwood at gunpoint while demanding to know the location of a company executive identified as Mike. He threatened to kill her if the executive was not present. Parish eventually recognized Smallwood as the wife of a mechanic he knew and allowed her to leave.

The Jewel-T Warehouse Attack

Parish left Western Transportation and drove about four miles to the Jewel-T warehouse, where he had previously worked and where several employees had been involved in disagreements with him. After entering the facility, Parish shot and killed district sales manager Dave Bahl. He then proceeded to the shipping office, where he encountered warehouse supervisor Richard T. Svoboda, the man who had previously requested that Parish be removed from the Jewel-T delivery contract. Parish placed his revolver against Svoboda and shot him at close range. After Svoboda fell, Parish fired another shot. He then chased shipping supervisor Robert Sarabia through part of the building and shot him, leaving Sarabia critically wounded. ...

Confirmed Victims: (6)

Dave Bahl 28 yr old Male

1982 Grand Prairie warehouse shootings