Employee At Miller Brewery In Wisconsin Kills Five Employees Then Takes Own Life.
By Lonce Lamonte - February 27, 2020
An employee opened fire Wednesday, February 26th, at a brewery in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, killing five workers before taking his own life, police reported.
The shooter at the Molson Coors complex was identified as a 51-year-old Milwaukee man. Authorities offered no immediate motive for the attack and did not release details about the shooter or how the shooting unfolded.
“There were five individuals who went to work today, just like everybody goes to work, and they thought they were going to go to work, finish their day and return to their families. They didn’t — and tragically they never will,” Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett said.
None of the victims were identified. Police said identities would not be released for at least 24 hours.
No one was wounded apart from those who were killed.
Officers operated to clear the more than 20 buildings in the complex for some hours where more than 1,000 people work. Police announced at a late evening news conference that the work was done and all employees had been allowed to go home. Police Chief Alfonso Morales said authorities believed the shooter acted alone.
President Trump addressed the shooting by stating, “Our hearts break for them and their loved ones. We send our condolences. We’ll be with them, and it’s a terrible thing, a terrible thing.”
The attack occurred at a complex that includes a mix of corporate offices and brewing facilities. The area is widely known in the Milwaukee area as “Miller Valley,” after the Miller Brewing Company that is now part of Molson Coors.
Molson Coors Chief Executive Gavin Hattersley called the shooter “an active brewery employee.”
“Unfortunately, I am devastated to share that we lost five other members of our family in this tragic incident,” he said in an email to employees. “There are no words to express the deep sadness many of us are feeling right now.”
James Boyles told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that his wife, Lasonya Ragdales, works at Molson Coors in the claims department. She was texting from inside the facility and told her husband that there was an active shooter and she was locked in a room with a bunch of co-workers, the Journal Sentinel newspaper reported.
According to the Associated Press, a group of brewery employees gathered at a nearby bar to talk about what had happened.
“We are all a family,” said Selena Curka, a brewery employee who was about to start her shift when the complex went on lockdown, according to the Associated Press. “We work a lot of hours together, so we’re all very sad.”
lonce@adjustercom.com, Lonce Lamonte, journalist, editor.
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