William Daniel Baker and the 2001 Navistar Workplace Massacre
Overview
On February 5, 2001, former employee William Daniel Baker carried out a deadly workplace shooting at the Navistar International diesel-engine plant in Melrose Park, Illinois. Baker entered the sprawling industrial facility with several firearms and opened fire on employees working inside. He killed four men, wounded four others and then died by suicide before police could take him into custody.
The attack occurred one day before Baker was scheduled to surrender to federal authorities and begin serving a prison sentence. His impending incarceration, long-standing anger toward Navistar and resentment over the circumstances surrounding his dismissal appear to have contributed to the carefully prepared assault.
William Baker's History at Navistar
William Daniel Baker was born on March 15, 1934. He began working for the company that became Navistar in 1955 and remained employed there for nearly four decades. During his years at the Melrose Park plant, he worked in positions that included forklift operator and tool-room attendant.
Baker's relationship with the company deteriorated after he became involved in a conspiracy to steal engines, machinery and other valuable equipment from the plant. Navistar dismissed him in 1994. Federal authorities later prosecuted Baker for his role in the theft operation.
In November 2000, Baker pleaded guilty to a federal conspiracy charge. He was sentenced to five months in federal prison followed by five months of home confinement. He was ordered to report to prison on February 6, 2001. Instead of surrendering as directed, Baker returned to his former workplace on the morning of February 5 and committed mass murder.
Baker also had a previous sex-offense conviction. In 1998, he pleaded guilty in connection with a sexual relationship involving an underage girl and became a registered sex offender. Because of that conviction, he was legally prohibited from possessing firearms. Despite the prohibition, he obtained and assembled multiple guns for the attack.
Preparation for the Shooting
Baker arrived at the Navistar plant carrying several weapons, including an SKS semiautomatic rifle, a .38-caliber revolver, a 12-gauge shotgun and another rifle. Some of the weapons were concealed inside a golf bag, allowing him to approach the entrance without immediately revealing the purpose of his visit.
At approximately 9:45 a.m., Baker drove to a sliding security gate near the plant's Armitage Avenue entrance. He reportedly told a female security guard that the golf bag contained personal belongings he intended to give to a friend inside the building. When the guard requested permission to examine the bag, Baker produced the revolver and forced her to admit him.
The plant was a large and active industrial facility containing more than 800 workers. Once Baker passed through security, employees had little warning that an armed former co-worker was moving toward their work areas.
The Attack Inside the Plant
Baker entered a diesel-engine testing area and began firing at employees with the SKS rifle. The sudden gunfire sent workers running through the plant while others attempted to hide, warn co-workers or escape from the building.
Seven people were shot in or near the engine-testing area. Supervisor Daniel Dorsch and technicians Robert Wehrheim and Michael Brus were killed. Four additional employees were wounded but survived.
Baker then continued moving through the facility rather than remaining in one location. Witnesses described workers fleeing through corridors and industrial workspaces as warnings spread that a gunman was inside. The size and complicated layout of the plant made it difficult for employees to determine where Baker was located or where he might appear next.
Approximately eight to twelve minutes after the shooting began, Baker entered an office area. There he shot and killed test engineer William Garcia. Baker fired an estimated 25 to 30 rounds during the attack, using both the SKS rifle and the revolver.
After killing Garcia, Baker used the revolver to take his own life. The entire episode lasted only minutes, but by the time officers entered and secured the plant, four employees were dead and four others had sustained gunshot wounds.
Fatal Victims
- Daniel Thomas Dorsch, 52 — A Navistar supervisor from Elmwood Park, Illinois. Dorsch was fatally shot in the diesel-engine testing area on February 5, 2001.
- Robert Edward Wehrheim, 47 — A Navistar technician from Hanover Park, Illinois. Wehrheim was killed during the initial gunfire in the engine-testing area on February 5, 2001.
- Michael Victor Brus, 48 — A Navistar technician from Hinckley, Illinois. Brus was fatally shot alongside other employees in the testing area on February 5, 2001.
- William Allen Garcia, 43 — A Navistar test engineer from Carpentersville, Illinois. Garcia was shot and killed in an office area after Baker moved deeper into the plant on February 5, 2001.
Employees Wounded
- Carl Swanson, 45 — A Navistar employee from Des Plaines, Illinois. He was wounded during the shooting and treated at Gottlieb Memorial Hospital.
- Mujtaba H. Aidroos, 24 — A Navistar employee from Roselle, Illinois. He was wounded and transported to Loyola University Medical Center.
- Bryan Snyder, 26 — A Navistar employee from Maywood, Illinois. He was wounded and received treatment at Loyola University Medical Center.
- Matt Kusch, 22 — A Navistar employee who was wounded during the attack and treated at Gottlieb Memorial Hospital.
Police Response and Evacuation
Police officers converged on the Navistar complex after receiving reports of an active shooter. Because the plant was immense and contained machinery, offices, testing rooms and numerous possible hiding places, responding officers had to move cautiously through the building.
Employees streamed from the facility while emergency personnel established treatment and evacuation areas outside. Officers eventually located Baker dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Investigators recovered the weapons he had brought into the plant and began documenting the numerous locations where shots had been fired.
The four surviving gunshot victims were transported to area hospitals. Other employees were interviewed as investigators attempted to reconstruct Baker's movements and determine whether he had selected particular people or simply fired at workers encountered inside the plant.
Possible Motive
Baker left behind no explanation that fully accounted for every decision he made during the shooting. However, investigators quickly focused on his dismissal from Navistar, his federal conviction and his approaching prison surrender date.
He had spent most of his adult working life at the plant before being fired for participating in the equipment-theft conspiracy. His guilty plea and prison sentence represented the final consequences of that case. The massacre occurred less than twenty-four hours before he was expected to enter federal custody.
Some people who had known Baker described him as intimidating, angry or prone to bullying behavior. His ability to obtain several weapons despite being legally prohibited from possessing them also raised questions about how the guns were acquired and whether others had noticed signs that he was preparing for violence.
Although Baker had grievances connected to the company, the four men he killed were not responsible for imposing his criminal sentence. They were employees performing their ordinary duties when he entered the plant and attacked them.
Weapons and Security Concerns
The shooting exposed serious vulnerabilities at a facility employing hundreds of people. Baker was familiar with the plant and its operations because of his decades of employment there. He used that familiarity, a deceptive explanation for the golf bag and a handgun threat to overcome the entrance checkpoint.
The firearms recovered after the attack included weapons capable of firing rapidly and at considerable range. Baker carried more guns than he ultimately used, indicating that he had prepared for a prolonged assault even though the shooting ended within approximately twelve minutes.
His possession of the firearms was itself unlawful because of his prior conviction. Investigators worked to trace the guns and determine how a prohibited individual had obtained them. The case became part of a broader national discussion about workplace violence, security planning, firearm access and warning signs displayed by disgruntled former employees.
Aftermath
Navistar suspended operations at the Melrose Park plant as police processed the scene and employees struggled with the loss of their colleagues. Counseling and support were made available to workers, many of whom had witnessed the gunfire, encountered wounded co-workers or fled without knowing whether friends had survived.
The killings devastated the families of Daniel Dorsch, Robert Wehrheim, Michael Brus and William Garcia. The four men had gone to work on the morning of February 5, 2001, with no reason to expect that a former employee would force his way into the facility and target people inside.
The shooting remains one of the deadliest workplace attacks in Illinois history. It demonstrated how a combination of personal resentment, impending legal consequences, access to firearms and detailed knowledge of a workplace could culminate in a sudden act of mass violence.
Death of William Baker
William Daniel Baker died at the Navistar plant on February 5, 2001, at the age of 66. Because he died by suicide at the scene, he never faced prosecution for the four murders or the attempted murders of the surviving employees.
His death also prevented investigators, victims and relatives from receiving a complete explanation directly from him. The available evidence indicates that the massacre was a planned final act carried out immediately before he was required to surrender for his federal prison sentence.
Legacy of the Navistar Massacre
The Melrose Park shooting became a prominent example of workplace mass murder in the United States. It prompted renewed attention to threats made by former employees, enforcement of firearm restrictions, industrial-site security and procedures for responding to an armed attacker inside a large facility.
The lasting focus of the case remains on the four employees whose lives were taken and the four survivors who were wounded. Daniel Dorsch, Robert Wehrheim, Michael Brus and William Garcia were not participants in Baker's criminal conduct or responsible for his approaching imprisonment. They became victims of his decision to direct his anger at the workplace and people he had left behind.
