| |
Chrysler
factory
employee
kills
co-worker,
self
By DAVID
N.
GOODMAN
Associated
Press
DETROIT
- A
Chrysler
factory
employee
fatally
stabbed
his
co-worker
in view
of their
colleagues
in the
plant's
loading
dock
area,
officials
with the
automaker
and the
Detroit
police
said
Thursday.
The
suspect
then
fled the
Jefferson
North
plant
and shot
himself
to death
at a
nearby
city
park,
Inspector
Dwane
Blackmon
told a
news
conference.
Police
arrived
at the
east-side
plant to
find the
victim
dead and
the
suspect
gone,
Blackmon
said.
According
to
Chrysler,
the
stabbing
took
place
about
7:50
a.m.
No
motive
for the
killing
at the
plant
has been
established,
said
Blackmon,
who
added
that
witnesses
described
the men
as
having
an
ongoing
dispute.
The men
exchanged
words
during
what
Blackmon
described
as
"face-to-face
encounter"
before
the
suspect
killed
the
victim
with a
knife
that
since
has been
recovered
by
police.
Police
tracked
the
suspect
to Belle
Isle, an
island
park in
the
middle
of the
Detroit
River.
He shot
himself
in a
sport
utility
vehicle
that was
parked
on a
roadway
that
backed
up to a
wooded
area not
far from
a
playground,
athletic
fields
and a
zoo
building.
Chrysler
Senior
Vice
President
Scott
Garberding
said no
weapons
are
allowed
inside
the
plant,
which
does not
have
metal
detectors.
"At no
time
were
there
other
individuals
in
danger,"
Blackmon
said.
Police
believe
the
suspect
had a
specific
dispute
with the
victim
and
didn't
intend
to do
harm to
others
at the
plant.
Blackmon
said
authorities
would
not
release
the
identities
of the
suspect
and the
victim
until
relatives
were
notified.
The
Jefferson
North
plant
employs
about
3,100
workers
on two
shifts.
No other
employees
were
injured,
and
workers
on the
first
shift
were
sent
home
around
10 a.m.
The
plant's
second
shift
was
canceled,
and
grief
counselors
were
being
brought
in,
Garberding
said.
"Chrysler
Group is
deeply
saddened
by the
events
that
happened
this
morning
at
Jefferson
North,"
said
Garberding,
who runs
the
automaker's
North
American
assembly
operations.
"The
safety
of our
employees
is
always
our
first
priority.
... We
are
going to
learn
everything
we can
from
this
incident."
The
plant
makes
the Jeep
Grand
Cherokee
and
Dodge
Durango
full-size
SUVs.
---
AP Auto
Writer
Tom
Krisher
and
Associated
Press
writers
Mike
Householder,
Ed White
and
David
Aguilar
contributed
to this
report. |
