Groundhog Day.
No, not the annual holiday to be celebrated less than a month from now on February 2. More along the lines of the 1993 film in which a man becomes trapped in the titular day and lives the same events over and over again. Eventually, he ends the cycle by having a perfect day. If one could draw a direct corollary to the world’s events and that particular film, it would be wise to try and have a perfect day. However, it is but a metaphor to describe the latest major shooting in the United States.
Eight people were shot, three of them fatally, at a manufacturing company in St. Louis just before 6 a.m. According to CNN and other news media, the shooter has been identified as Timothy Hendron. Hendron carried out the attack with an assault rifle and pistol.
The piece of news that makes this story unfortunately somewhat predictable is that Hendron was part of a lawsuit against ABB, Inc., the company he worked for. The lawsuit was carried out to accuse the company of “unreasonable and excessive” fees and expenses, which would be paid for by employees with no prior knowledge.
CNN was also told by Linda Sigfried, a spokeswoman representing the law firm that they can confirm Hendron was one of the plaintiffs in the case. She then offered her condolences for the victims.
St. Louis based KDSK News reports that Hendron is officially included in the list of fatalities. A search was on for Hendron prior to finding his body inside the building. The captain of the St. Louis police also told KDSK that no hostages were taken, and 40 to 50 people were located inside.
In a fortunate twist, however, an ABB spokesman told CNN that 200 people are employed at the power and automation company, but at least 100 did not arrive due to inclement weather. So, if there is a silver lining to every cloud – I suppose you could label that piece of information as such.
