John Parish

Mass Murderer

John Felton Parish: Grand Prairie Warehouse Massacre, August 9, 1982

Overview

John Felton Parish (born July 4, 1933, Dallas County, Texas) was a truck driver who, on the morning of August 9, 1982, carried out a mass shooting and subsequent truck-ramming attack in Grand Prairie, Texas. Over the course of a violent spree lasting less than half an hour, he killed six people, wounded several others, hijacked a semi-trailer truck, led police on a high-speed chase, and was ultimately killed in a shootout with law enforcement .

Perpetrator Background

John Felton Parish was born on July 4, 1933, in Dallas County, Texas . At the time of the massacre, he was 49 years old. He had worked as a trucker for approximately 20 years, and had recently been estranged from his wife after losing a child-custody case. He was also dealing with personal tragedies: his brother needed a kidney transplant, and his sister had died of cancer . For eight months, he had worked at the Jewel-T warehouse before going to the Western Transportation Company in September 1980. Two weeks prior to the shooting, Parish had entered into a pay dispute over $1,600 he believed he was owed—but his supervisor, Eddie Ulrich, told him he’d earned less because he had worked less. Parish felt disrespected .

The Rampage: Sequence of Events and Victims

On August 9, 1982, starting around 8:00 a.m., Parish initiated a rampage across two workplace locations in Grand Prairie, Texas :

• Western Transportation Company (central business district, Grand Prairie):
  • Eddie Eugene Ulrich, 40—supervisor; shot and killed.
  • Martin Douglas Moran, 30—truck driver; shot and killed.
  • Moody Charles Smith, 58—operations manager; shot and killed.
• Parish then stole a bobtail truck and drove to another Western Transportation office just half a block away:
  • Wyvonne Kohler, 45—executive secretary; shot and killed.
  • Ruth James—receptionist; wounded in shoulder and neck.
  • Burnett Hart—operations manager; wounded with a shot to the head.
  • Vicki Smallwood—office worker taken briefly hostage, later released when Parish realized she was the wife of someone he knew.
• Jewel-T Warehouse (about four miles away):
  • Dave Bahl, 28—district sales manager; shot and killed.
  • Richard T. Svoboda, 37—warehouse supervisor; shot in the jaw, then again in the face while on the floor — killed.
  • Robert Sarabia—shipping supervisor; wounded after being chased.

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Confirmed Victims: (6)

Dave Bahl 28 yr old Male

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1982 Grand Prairie warehouse shootings

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