Mass Shooting In Mass.

[Waitone]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv...134403_000.htm

7 May Be Dead in Mass. Shooting
By Theo Emery
Associated Press Writer
Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2000; 1:44 p.m. EST

WAKEFIELD, Mass. –– Gunfire erupted at an office building Tuesday, killing at least one person. A newspaper and a television station said seven people were killed, but police wouldn't confirm the reports.

One gunman was in custody, state police said. SWAT teams were searching the building.

The shooting took place in the offices of Edgewater Technologies, an Internet consulting company, said Frank Harrington, a contract consultant for the company. The company has its headquarters in Wakefield and offices in Alabama, Arkansas, Minnesota and New Hampshire, according to its Web site.

Harrington was in the building during the shooting and said he heard eight to 10 shots.

He said he saw one body covered with a blanket.

"One of the bodies is right inside the lobby entrance," he said.

A sheet was hung in the doorway, blocking the view from outside.

WHDH-TV and the Wakefield Item said seven people were killed. They cited unidentified public safety officials.

Three ambulances were parked outside the Harvard Mills office complex, a three-story, red brick former factory that houses several companies.

Wakefield is 10 miles north of downtown Boston.

© Copyright 2000 The Associated Press
__________________________________________

Here we go again!

[LawDog]

Damn, damn, damn!!

LawDog

[Hard Ball]

A cable news channel bulletin said that the attacker used an AK-47 rifle and an automatic pistol.

[Elker_43]

Standby, evil hardware is at it again. In Mass. of all places and we can expect the Sarah Brady's of this world to be rubbing their hands in glee. The pronouncements to eliminate the very tools that gave them freedom will be shouted to the highest when they should be pressing to eliminate the very criminals that do harm to our society.

I pray for the families of those innocents caught up in the insanity of the individual they have caught. I pray for a speedy trial and swift action by the Courts. Lastly I pray that the Washington politicians will not jump into the arena again pressing for more Legislation! Of course, I am counting the minutes until Kennedy, Schumer, and HKlinton begin their talking head profiles.

[oktagon]

[color=#FF0000]█[/color][color=#FF0000]█[/color][color=#FF0000]█[/color][color=#FF0000]█[/color][color=#FF0000]█[/color]!!!!!
Now we are going to have all the antigun crap float up in Mass again. I really hope that all those guns were unlivenced, other wise all the lawfull owners of guns in Mass will be punished by some new rediculus regulations, I am sure.
He had an AK, shotgun and some type of semiauto pistol. Given the number of guns and dificulties in obtaining them here, I am afraid he bought them legally.
The well known brown substance is about to have an collision with air circulation device again. Ans we are sitting right next to it. Damn!!!!

[grapeshad]

All this happened within 5-10 minutes from my office...in fact one of the women at my company has a boyfriend who works at Edgewater....he had taken the day off thankfuly......

I was at a Xmas party at my friends inlaws on Sunday...I met a Wakefield Police officer who also happens to be a sniper on the area SWAT team....sort of errie we were talking on how quiet things have been.........

As a MA resident I am sickened and dismayed by this act of cowardice....already the talking liberal heads in this area are talking of the weapons of mass destruction this nut possessed. I hope you are right oktagon...but I have a feeling that he was probably a Class A holder who decided to become a coward. I hope to high heaven that he did not purchase the guns at the shops I frequent....but given the proximity of the shootings I bet he probably did....

Police were on scene within minutes but were not quick enough to put down this dog. Perhaps 1 armed person could have made the difference?

Believe me, gun owners are a distinct minority here in MA and anything we say will look heartless and cold at this time no matter how we try to put it.

I fully expect to see the A/G on local TV tonight stating that all guns must be banned to prevent these types of tragedies....I bet you dollars to doughnuts he attempts to play off of these poor peoples deaths.

Was a little refreshing to hear that most people calling in to talk radio were not blaming the "evil" guns for this rather a demented twisted f**k. But I guess that pales in comparison to the losses these familys have experienced....

[Jeff Thomas]

Damn shame ... so sorry to hear this. Ironic it occurred in one of the worst states in the nation for honestly obtaining and using firearms. But, we all know better - truth is, this kind of tragedy is most likely where honest people are not allowed to defend themselves. Animals like this shooter may be crazy, but they don't seem to be stupid.

Regards from AZ


http://www.cnn.com/2000/LAW/12/26/of...ing/index.html

7 killed in office shooting near Boston; suspect in custody

December 26, 2000
Web posted at: 4:59 p.m. EST (2159 GMT)

Staff and wire reports

WAKEFIELD, Massachusetts (CNN) -- A heavily armed employee of Edgewater Technology Inc. was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of killing seven co-workers, said John McEvoy, the Middlesex County assistant district attorney.

The man was identified as employee Michael McDermott, 42. McEvoy said he plans to charge McDermott with seven counts of murder.

McEvoy said that McDermott was armed with three weapons -- an AK47 assault rifle, a shotgun, and a semi-automatic handgun. McEvoy would not go into a possible motive except to say that it was work related.

McDermott will be arraigned in Maldin District Court Wednesday morning, said Anson Kay, a spokesman with the district attorney's office.

An investigator with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms is in Wakefield to help local officials with the investigation.

"When the (crime) scene is released, we will take a look at the guns and start the tracing process," said Special Agent Bill Kinsella of the ATF's public information section in Washington.

If there is a federal firearms issue, that would be addressed. "Right now, we are there to assist on the processing of the firearms," Kinsella said.

Kinsella said the ATF would use information provided by local authorities to track the history of the guns.

The shooting took place at a building on Foundry Street known as Harvard Mills. Edgewater Technology is an Internet consulting firm. The company has its headquarters in Wakefield and offices in Alabama, Arkansas, Minnesota and New Hampshire, according to its Web site.

McDermott was sitting in the lobby when law enforcement officers arrived. He was armed and had to be subdued, McEvoy said.

McEvoy would not comment on the victims pending notification of their families. There were no additional injuries other than the seven victims, who all died from apparent gunshot wounds, he said.

McEvoy estimated 50 to 70 people were working in the building at the time of the shooting.

"The gunman went crazy," one witness told reporters outside the three-story brick office complex.

Police said the rampage began about 11 a.m. on the day after Christmas.

Ambulances and emergency vehicles rushed to the scene and heavily armed police in bullet-proof vests conducted a room-to-room search of the office complex that is home to several high-tech firms.

Nancy Pecjo, a developer with the company, said she did not know who had been shot.

"It's a great company, a wonderful company," she said, adding that she didn't know of anyone who'd been fired recently or was disgruntled.

"It's a small company, you get to know everybody there," she said. "When something like this happens it's very distressing."

Three ambulances were parked outside the Harvard Mills office complex, a three-story, red brick former factory that houses several companies.

Darren Emery, the owner of North Shore Pools, across the street said a number of office workers ran into his store saying the man had opened fire.

The workers were evacuated to St. Joseph's church which is located nearby.

The owner of a garage located on the same street said he had noticed police activity in the area.

"There's been a helicopter hovering overhead for about the past half-hour," said Miles Moran, owner of the Foundry Street Garage.

Wakefield is about 10 miles outside Boston.

[Edited by Jeff Thomas on 12-26-2000 at 06:55 PM]

[Al Mondroca]

Yes, the talking heads are going to start beating the "gun control" drum over this.

It's up to you to reply.

Don't let them _ever_ get away with claiming that there aren't enough gun control laws and that more laws would have prevented this. This happened in MASSACHUSETTS. Short of door-to-door confiscations, the laws can't get any more draconian than they are there.

Remind them that shootings like this take place in schools, churches, and office buildings in gun-restrictive states. They DON'T happen in police stations, gun stores, shooting ranges or gun shows. (Remind them that on the rare occasions when some fool _does_ try this in a gun store, shooting range or police station, he fails--and even anti-gun dweebs laugh at his stupidity. Ask them why.)

Remind them that a single legally armed citizen could have stopped this before seven people had died. Remind them that a single legally-armed citizen HAS stopped such a rampage, on more than one occasion. Remind them of the Pearl, Mississippi school shooting--which was stopped by a law-abiding principal WITH A GUN. Remind them of the other high-profile shootings (and attempted shootings) which have been stopped by CITIZENS WITH GUNS.

[oberkommando]

Good point Al, about the types of places these things happen, usually in "gun free zones" .Yeah I bet the liberals are tripping over the bodies to get at the podium to spew forth their lies and have the media suck it down in glee. Sorry for the families and also the fact that the shooter didnt take on the swat team. I have noticed that out here in kali, that some badass gangbanger from south central is never quite bad enought to take on the boys in black, funny how that happens.

Maybe shall issue would have help as obviously gun laws didnt. But that is logical and the liberals will have none of that. One good thing is that at least gore isnt on his way in as he would love the opportunity to make a speach about the evils of guns.

[bigfoot4]

what scares me the most is the copycats. it seems like
when something like this happens there is always a second
and possibly a third incident. hope that i am wrong. i agree
that if someone in the bldg. would have been able to defend
themself that this may not have happened.

[Dangus]

Al, do you have a link to that story about the principal?

[Waitone]

Mass. reportedly has some of the most restrictive gun laws in the US and even that was insufficient to stop someone intent on doing bad thing.

Anti-2's will no doubt point out the fallacy of states controlling gun laws. Why its crystal clear what the problem is. Problem is, it is too easy to purchase guns in other states and bring them into restrictive states such as Mass. Don't laugh; dogooders in Washington DC have already broken out that logic. No response yet (other than my laughter) but watch for it.

[Jeff Thomas]

... how GW will react to these tragedies. The press will likely pursue him for a quote. Should be interesting. I think he is a decent man ... I hope he has a strong spine.

Regards from AZ

[Kaboom]

The latest.http://www.newsday.com/ap/text/national/ap967.htm He didn't have any permits.

[Dennis Olson]

More mass murders with eeeeeeeeeeeviiiiiil guns, no fault of the perp...

*sigh*

[dZ]

Seven Killed in Tech Company Shooting Spree
December 26, 2000 8:16 pm EST

By Christopher Noble






Michael McDermott, the suspect in an office shooting spree that took the lives of seven workers at Edgewater Technology in Wakefield,
Massachusetts, is seen in a police mugshot photo released December 26, 2000 by the Wakefield police department. McDermott, described
as a 300-pound man with a big beard, reported for work at Edgewater Technology's corporate headquarters armed with a loaded AK-47
assault rifle, a shotgun and a semiautomatic handgun, police said.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

WAKEFIELD, Mass. (Reuters) - A heavily armed employee gunned down seven co-workers in a
"work-related" shooting spree at a troubled Internet consulting firm on Tuesday, the day after
Christmas, officials said.

The suspect, Michael McDermott, 42, was set to be arraigned on murder charges on Wednesday,
officials said.

McDermott, described as a 300-pound man with a big beard, reported for work Tuesday at Edgewater Technology's corporate
headquarters armed with a loaded AK-47 assault rifle, a shotgun and a semiautomatic handgun, police said.

At about 11 a.m. he allegedly walked through the office building and fatally shot seven co-workers at a firm undergoing a
major reorganization in the latest of a series of mass shootings in the United States.

"I thought I was going to die," a 29-year-old Edgewater worker, who declined to give his name, told Reuters. He was one of up
to 70 people who were at work in the building at the time, officials said.

A prosecutor, visibly shaken after emerging from the scene, told reporters, "The Wakefield police were able to subdue Mr.
McDermott, wrestle him to the ground. Place him in custody. Mr. McDermott has been placed under arrest."

The prosecutor, John McEvoy, said McDermott faced seven counts of murder.

"All the victims died from gunshots," he said. "There were no other victims. There were no other shooters."

Martha Coakley, the Middlesex County district attorney told reporters, "There was an enormous amount of firepower."

One of McDermott's co-workers, Mike Stanley, described the accused gunman as "six-foot-two, about 300 pounds with a big
beard. He was a bit strange. But he was amiable guy.

"He was joking with lots of people. He was joking with a bunch of people before he went on the rampage," Stanley told
reporters.

McDermott was hired in March by Edgewater, an Internet software consulting firm located in a three-story renovated factory
building in Wakefield. The suburb, some 15 miles northwest of Boston, is part of the high-tech corridor that rings the city.

McEvoy declined to give a motive for the shootings except to say that it was "work-related."

Coakley said investigators were looking into reports a U.S. Internal Revenue Service attempt to garnish McDermott's wages
could have been behind the shooting spree.

The massacre was the latest in a string of shootings in recent years in U.S. workplaces, schools and churches.

The most recent, in Honolulu in November 1999, also left seven dead. Others included July 1999 shootings that left nine dead
at two Atlanta brokerages, August 1999 shootings that left three people dead at two office buildings in Pelham, Alabama, and
in Garden Grove, California, that same month when a man opened fire in an auto parts store killing two people.

Shirley Singleton, Edgewater's chief executive, released a statement confirming the shootings and vowing to help police.

"Everyone at Edgewater Technology is shocked and devastated by the loss of our friends," the statement said in part and
added, "We extend our deepest sympathies to the victims' families at this tragic time."

Started as a private Internet commerce software firm outside Boston in 1992, Edgewater Technologies was purchased by a
large publicly traded temporary staffing company, StaffMark Inc. of Fayetteville, Arkansas, in May 1999.

The company has been in a state of flux lately. In the past 18 months, StaffMark began shedding its staffing units to focus
solely on high-technology consulting at Edgewater.

StaffMark changed its name to Edgewater last summer, just as it completed the sales of its largest staffing units.

While the company raised about $450 million through the sales of its staffing units, shareholders were displeased with the
divestiture and some of its employees were unhappy with the move from Arkansas to Massachusetts.

StaffMark generated revenue in excess of $1 billion in 1999 before it began a series of divestitures. During the first nine
months of 2000, Edgewater reported $23.4 million in revenue.

The company stock finished the day at 6-3/8, down slightly on the day but well off its 52-week high of 12-1/16.


(Edited to fix image which was trying to automatically load and reload ads which locked up Netscape. - TBM)

[Edited by TheBluesMan on 12-27-2000 at 11:43 AM]

[grapeshad]

I heard that he was pissed that they were going to start garnishing his wages for non-payment of taxes....

Maybe he'll do the world a favor and take the John Salvi's cowards way out and hang himself in his cell. Although I'm not sure what he would hang himself with...this guys is pretty huge...6'2 over 300 bills...damn...


I'll say it again..this man(pig,cockroach,dog [color=#FF0000]█[/color][color=#FF0000]█[/color][color=#FF0000]█[/color][color=#FF0000]█[/color]) deserves no mercy, none, zilch, nada...ship his ass off to Texas to be dealt with in the way he should be. There is not a punishment severe enough in Massachusetts to deal with his ass.

Tom reilly better watch what he says on this...if he tries to use these 7 deaths as political gain.......I'm sure he will and I'm sure all the bonehead sheeple that populate this state will nod their heads and go "Gee Tom...You are right! Confiscate all the guns in Massachusetts!" Call me crazy but I don't see this sort of statement out of the realm of possiblity......

I'm pissed, I'm hurt and I'm mad......and I don't even know any of these people that lost their lives today.....grrrrrrrr

[iso1]

The families of the victims have my prayers.

But, something's fishy here....

(paranoid mode on)

Did anyone happen to watch the interviews with some of the "witnesses"? Since when do the police let witnesses talk to the media before they do? And, a couple of them, after stating "I'm in total shock" or "I thought I was going to die" started talking like it was just another day at the office.....one woman even spelled her name for the reporters just to make sure they got it right.

And it's funny how none of them said anything about an "assault rifle". And of course, the rifle he used is one that bears a name almost everyone in this country recognizes, and which most people already think of as just a killing machine.

And the SWAT team had to "wrestle him to the ground"? Since when does the SWAT team get close enough to an ARMED subject to wrestle him to the ground? Sounds more like he was sitting there waiting for them, probably had the firearms sitting beside him, and when he just sat there they rushed him....

I'm sorry, but some of this just doesn't add up...

(paranoid mode off)

[Gusgus]

I agree with Iso1 on this. Something very strange going on here. The shooter just sitting down, and waiting to be arrested. The "witnesses" are just acting far too casual. Maybe the Media beating on these events for months on end has desensitized the nation. It's a terrible tragedy, and I feel so, for the families of the victims, but this one is not following the normal script.

So far, I haven't heard any attacks by the antis. The national media has mentioned several times that he did not have the required permits. I've actually heard "talking heads" placing blame where it belongs - with the shooter, not the weapons. One so called expert actually made a statement about how they used to think these shooters where obsessed with weapons, but they've discovered that this is not true. I almost fell out of my chair.

Could Bush's impending Presidency have anything to do with this? Could it be, that if Gore was heading to the Presidency, that Clinton would be issuing an Executive Order today, banning all AK type "killing machines"? Why are the Democrats so silent? Did they finally realized that "gun control" cost them many elections?

[Gusgus]

A follow up - Morton Dean just mentioned on GMA, that a witness told him that she was not surprised by the massacre. She said that "you just come to expect this now a days". I wonder who's fault that is, Mr. Dean?!

[grapeshad]

it actually wasn't the Swat team that arrested him.....one of the first police officers on the scene happened to be a member of the SWAT team but he was working a detail nearby. By the looks of what I saw on the local news, the SWAT team was there but well after the arrest had been made.

[iso1]

McDermott was sitting in the lobby when law enforcement officers arrived. He was armed and had to be subdued, McEvoy said.

The Wakefield police were able to subdue Mr.
McDermott, wrestle him to the ground. Place him in custody.

How did the police manage to subdue an irritated, heavily armed man without firing a shot? They couldn't, unless: One, he wasn't armed at the time, or Two, they used some sort of alternative weapon (Baton, OC, Taser, Non-lethal) which they would use only if he were unarmed......

[Libertarian]

The news is now reporting the police found an "arsenal" in McDermott's home.

[iso1]

Yeah, but his neighbors said they never saw any weapons in his apartment....
http://www.foxnews.com/national/122700/shooting.sml

Kevin Forzese, who lived upstairs from McDermott in Haverhill, on the other hand, was surprised by McDermott's apparent motive. He said the suspect had never mentioned money problems. He also said McDermott had mentioned that he collected antique guns, but he had never seen any weapons in McDermott's apartment.

One of my questions is...

He was there for at least an hour before he started shooting...so when did he leave to get the weapons? Or if they were already there, how did no one notice them sitting in his workspace?

The prosecuting attorney said ammunition and a rifle mounted with sniper sights were found at his work station at the office, and that bomb-making materials were later found at the apartment where he lived by himself.

Like I said...something fishy here.

[dZ]

Considering that this guy worked for a web firm, i wonder if his bookmark file will become common knowledge...


The radio report i heard said he spent five unapposed minutes shooting people.

dZ