the killer's call to the state police...........

In 911 Call, Shooter Says He Regretted Not Killing More People
By DAVE ALTIMARI and DAVID OWENS, daltimar@courant.com

After killing eight people, Omar Thornton calmly called 911 and talked to a state police dispatcher for nearly four minutes, saying he "took things into his own hands" and regretted not killing more people before hanging up and killing himself as three police officers closed in.

"Hi, is this 911? This is Omar Thornton. The shooter over in Manchester,'' Thornton calmly told Trooper William Taylor.

"You probably want to know the reason why I shot this place up. Basically this is a racist place,'' Thornton told Taylor. "They treat me bad over here. They treat all other black people bad over here, too, so I just took things into my own hands and handled the problem. I wish I could have gotten more of the people."............

and here's a story that mentions how drivers come up. my dad was a teamster. my brother in law is a  teamster.  you HAVE TO pay your dues (so to speak). you start out low. you start out in the warehouse. THEN you get to drive. if you're new,  you get the crap routes. the more seniority you have....well you know the story.

as i said, i cannot speak to how the shooter was actually treated. he may or may NOT have been racially harassed. there is no excuse for racism. period. but way way way beyond that, murder neither heals nor solves one fucking thing. it just opens huge wounds

 
Hartford Distributors President Remembers Those Who Died; Rejects Killer's Claims of Racism Hollander Fought To Improve Bloomfield Schools for Black Students
By DAVID OWENS, dowens@courant.com

..............

Some of the men who worked side-by-side with those who died Tuesday remembered them as good men and rejected the comments by Thornton and his friends and relatives claiming racism.

"I just want it to be known, it's not like that," said David Zylberman, 54, of Vernon, who has worked 34 years at Hartford Distributors, and saw Thornton open fire. "They are very good people."

"It's growing into something that's not really there," added Mike Pletscher, 57, of Bristol, another longtime employee. He said the claims of racism at Hartford Distributors are simply false. "There's nothing to it," he said.

He said he thinks Thornton may have felt mistreated because he was the lowest driver in seniority. "He didn't understand the system," Pletscher said. "He thought he was being picked on. When you're at the bottom you get the [expletive] jobs."

Union officials said this week that Thornton, who initially worked in the warehouse, complained to the union about not getting a driver job. Union officials explained to him that jobs were filled by seniority and that when his time came and a slot was open, he'd get a driver job, said Chris Roos, Teamsters Local 1035's secretary treasurer. And when a driver slot opened up about a year ago, Thornton got the job, he said..............

 

guess what WORLD?

it's NOT against the law to breast feed in public (at least in connecticut it's NOT)

what the fuck is wrong with all of you anyway? so you MAY see a little bit of breast if you happen to be looking. SO WHAT. tell me. what's the big deal?

it's NOT a sexual activity. if YOU think it is, that's YOUR perversion. NOT mine or that of the breast feeding mother and her child.

i just don't get americans sometimes

East Hampton Mother Said She Was Barred From Breast-Feeding In Town Park

By KIM VELSEY, kvelsey@courant.com

EAST HAMPTON — —

A day at the beach for a nursing mother and four children last Tuesday turned into a confrontation with the town's parks department, followed by one with the police department this week, the woman and her husband said Monday.

Officials for both departments said Monday that the incident, at Sears Park on Lake Pocotopaug, is being investigated.

Last Tuesday, Kendra Dickinson took the four children she was caring for — her daughters, Riley, 4, and Ella, 2, and their two friends — to the lake after a morning of picking fruit at an orchard, she said.....................

pic: Paperwork is strewn on a couch as Kendra Dickinson breast feeds her daughter Ella Briggs, 2 in her East Hampton, Conn. home on August 2, 2010. The paperwork details notes of Dickinson's rights as a breastfeeding mother in Connecticut, as well as a drawing completed by Dickinson's daughter Riley of her mother on the day they were asked to leave the beach. The family also includes daughter Riley Briggs, 5, and husband Chris Briggs (not pictured). Dickinson was asked to leave a public beach after the local manager felt that breastfeeding her daughter was "inappropriate". (August 3, 2010)

i wanted to post this

it names the people killed. it tells us how some people tried to stop a crazed killer (and there are NO other words to describe him. he WAS A KILLER.)

there is no excuse nothing to justify what he did. there's also an article in the courant today from the MURDERER'S girlfriend. i'm not linking to it. it has me reeling.

IF  the MURDERER was being harassed (it's indeed possible although i'm not sure i'm totally buying it) and his supervisors weren't doing anything about it there were other avenues. how about his union rep (whom he ended up murdering)? the union has no record of complaints. how about the naacp? how about the aclu? how about ANY organization that could have investigated? if a noose was drawn on the bathroom door the police should have been called. HE could have called them. but no. he MURDERED PEOPLE.no excuse. none

to the families and friends of those dead and wounded, to the citizens of manchester and south windsor, to ALL of the citizens of connecticut, i am so very sorry for our loss. and it IS a loss. no one won

 

Workers Tried To Stop Omar Thornton
By DAVE ALTIMARI and DAVID OWENS, daltimari@courant.com

MANCHESTER — —

Five employees of Hartford Distributors Inc. tried to warn their fellow workers or physically stop Omar Thornton during his shooting spree, including a 77-year-old man who tried to run him over with a golf cart.

But Thornton shot them and others, leaving eight dead, and one man — Jerome Rosenstein, the man in the golf cart — fighting for his life.

Interviews with law enforcement sources and employees inside the building when the shooting spree began paint a picture of a man who went from calmly signing his name to a one-line resignation letter to a mass murderer who literally ran down some of his victims as they frantically tried to escape.
"He was eerily cool,'' Manchester Police Lt. Christopher Davis said Wednesday.

Teamsters Local 1035 President Bryan Cirigliano tried to stop Thornton as he opened fire on Steven Hollander, the company's chief financial officer, and Louis Felder, the director of operations, following the meeting at which Thornton resigned. But Thornton turned and shot Cirigliano in the head, killing him instantly. Felder and Cirigliano were Thornton's first victims.

Thornton chased two men — Victor James and Edwin Kennison — out of the warehouse, shooting them as they ran down the driveway. Kennison died immediately...........

 

as you all know we had a tragedy occur in connecticut yesterday morning

i am stunned. stunned.  i know many of the drivers for the area's beer and liquor distributors. my father worked for a beer distributor (not hartford) and my brother in law currently works for a liquor distributor (not hartford). 

we cannot feel safe at work? gun violence MUST end. i don't want to preach but we MUST get guns off of the streets and we must do it NOW.

there is not much more i can say. i will keep everyone in my thoughts and prayers.

coalition to stop gun violence
states united to prevent gun violence
brady campaign

here are links to a few connecticut news sources

9 Dead In Manchester, Conn. Workplace Shooting





By DAVID OWENS and DAVE ALTIMARI, dowens@courant.com

MANCHESTER —

Omar Thornton almost slept through his 6 a.m. wakeup call Tuesday, springing to life only after the teenage brother of his girlfriend nudged him awake.

The 34-year-old kissed his girlfriend Kristi Hannah goodbye, told her he loved her, and then left her East Windsor apartment for work at Hartford Distributors Inc. in Manchester, where he was to meet about 7 a.m. with company and union officials about allegations that he had stolen beer from the beverage wholesaler.

Within hours, he was lying dead on an office floor, having taken his own life as police closed in after a rampage that left eight co-workers dead and made him the biggest mass murderer in state history...................

Profiles Of Confirmed Victims: Manchester Workplace Shooting

9 Dead in Beer Distributor Shooting

By LEANNE GENDREAU, BRAD DRAZEN and RYAN HANRAHAN

 

Mayhem At Manchester Warehouse Leaves 9 Dead

Union Officials Say Disgruntled Employee Opened Fire

Stephanie Berning and Steven Yablonski, Staff Writers

9 dead in Manchester coworker massacre

Manchester, Conn. (WTNH) - Police in Manchester say 34-year-old Omar Thornton of Enfield opened fire at Hartford Distributors, where he worked, at around 7:30 Tuesday morning. He killed eight people and then turned the gun on himself.

Two others were also injured following the shooting at Hartford Distributors at 131 Chapel Road.

Names of two of the victims were released Tuesday night. Bryan Cirigliano, 51, of Newington and Victor James, 59, of South Windsor. Mr. Cirigliano was president of Teamsters Local 1035. He was present during the disciplinary hearing. ...............

 

 

 

 

pic: Shooting In Manchester
(PATRICK RAYCRAFT, HARTFORD COURANT / August 3, 2010)
This is the scene on Tuesday morning Aug. 3, 2010 of the multiple shootings and fatalities at Hartford Distributors in Manchester, Conn. The shootings took place early this morning and fatalities have been confirmed by authorities. Investigators, firefighters and EMS are still on the scene.

Hartford distributors

Several shot at hartford distributors this morning. There are deaths as well. News says gunman is dead (sendin from phone). News conference at 10. I know peeps who work there. My thoughts go outbto all

damn, i miss all the good stuff!

West Hartford Police Capture Naked Man Running Around Bishops Corner

ravings of a semi-sane madwoman: number one

ravings of a semi-sane madwoman: number one

i hate hate and hate going over avon mountain

it's a WHITE KNUCKLE drive ALL the way from bottom to top. yes, even when you're going 5 mph (which you do 75% of the time due to the construction). i drove over it 5 days a week for MANY years (work). now i only go over it once every couple of months. STILL i HATE IT. i'd rather drive it like it WAS than how it is now. i sure do hope when the construction leaves (i'll believe it when i see it) it WILL be easier, safer and LESS DANGEROUS

By RINKER BUCK And MELISSA TRAYNOR, rbuck@courant.com

AVON — Workers in the construction trades are used to rising early, but lately Todd Kennedy has taken that to extremes. Kennedy, a gable-builder from Coventry, who does most of his work in the Farmington Valley, rises well before 5 because he knows that a big, time-consuming obstacle blocks his morning commute: Avon Mountain.

"I have to leave at 5:30 every morning just to make sure I make a 7:30 arrival at my job site, because you always know that the traffic bottlenecks caused by the construction on Avon Mountain will add 45 minutes to the drive," Kennedy said recently, looking up from his table saw while he worked a job on Montevideo Road at the top of the mountain in Avon.

"By the end of the day, I feel trapped on this mountain," he said. "It takes forever just to get back on Route 44, and then my route through West Hartford will be blocked by all the commuters" trying to avoid the construction...............

pic: Traffic snakes around hazard cones and curves on Route 44 over Avon Mountain. The reconstruction work began in the spring of 2008. (Bettina Hansen / The Hartford Courant / July 27, 2010)