Ex-worker in custody charged in double fatal shooting at Ga. truck rental company; 3 wounded

Ex-worker held without bond in Ga. fatal shooting

MARIETTA, Ga. — A former employee charged in a fatal shooting rampage at an Atlanta-area truck rental company was ordered kept in jail without bond Wednesday.

Jessie James Warren, 60, was arrested when police surrounded his pickup truck about a mile from the scene of Tuesday’s shooting that left two men dead and three in critical condition, police said.

Police said a man in camouflage stormed the Penske Truck Rental facility in Kennesaw, northwest of Atlanta, in the nation’s second workplace shooting spree this month.

A judge ordered Warren held without bond. In a brief court hearing by video from the Cobb County jail, Warren said “No sir” when the judge asked if he had any questions about the charges. Warren also asked for a public defender. The next hearing was set for Feb. 9.

Killed in the shooting were Van Springer, 59, of Woodstock and Jaider Phillipe Marvlanda, 43, of Lawrenceville, Cobb County Police Officer Joe Hernandez said. Three other men were injured and in a hospital in critical condition.

Police have not disclosed a motive, although Hernandez described Warren as a “disgruntled ex-employee.”

Warren worked at Penske as a technician from June 2005 until July 2009, said Brian Hard, the president of Penske Truck Leasing. He said he would not provide any more details of Warren’s employment pending the police investigation.

“We are all still trying to understand what happened and we are fully cooperating with law enforcement officials,” said Hard. “It is important that we let law enforcement do their job without interference.”

Van Springer’s wife, Barbara Springer, said Warren had been laid off recently.

She said her husband, a mechanic at Penske, didn’t speak much about Warren but did say that “he had some issues,” though she would not elaborate. Springer said her family is trying to pull together but they are “not (doing) very good.”

It was the second fatal U.S. workplace shooting this month. Timothy Hendron, an employee at an ABB Inc. electrical plant in St. Louis, is accused of shooting hundreds of rounds of ammunition through the sprawling plant as about 50 workers sought refuge. Authorities say he killed three men and injured five others before killing himself.

In the Georgia case, about two dozen employees were working at the Penske office, which is about 25 miles northwest of Atlanta and consists of a couple of large buildings with bay doors, Penske spokesman Randy Ryerson said.

The gunman first confronted someone in the parking lot before moving to the truck bay area, shooting victims along the way, said Hernandez. He did not try to enter the building’s second floor, which houses a small administration office.

A man who witnessed the arrest said the suspect looked “out of his mind” and “all drugged up.”

“The cops walked up on both sides of the truck, he opened the door and they threw him on the ground. He pretty much just gave up,” Michael Robertson told The Associated Press.

Lights were on but no one appeared to be home Tuesday night at an address listed for Warren in Temple. No one answered the door but a dog could be heard barking. A few neighbors contacted by telephone said they didn’t know Warren.

Associated Press writer Kate Brumback in Atlanta contributed to this report.