Exec: Ex-worker charged in fatal Georgia workplace shooting apparently picked random targets

Exec: Ex-worker fired at random in Ga. rampage

MARIETTA, Ga. — The rampage started when a camouflage-clad gunman parked his pickup at the Atlanta-area truck rental company, authorities said, and started firing his handgun into a crowd of ex-colleagues.

By the time the attack at the Penske Truck Rental facility was over, three people were dead and two more were in critical condition. Jessie James Warren, a 60-year-old former technician who last worked at the facility six months ago, was arrested and charged with the carnage.

There is no known motive, but police have described him as a “disgruntled ex-employee.” Penske officials, meanwhile, said Warren likely chose his targets at random.

“It appears to have been random, to come in and shoot one of our customers who couldn’t possibly have been involved in any grievance,” said Brian Hard, the president of Penske Truck Leasing.

Few details emerged about Warren, who looked disheveled in an orange jumpsuit and requested a court-appointed attorney during a hearing Wednesday.

His neighbors knew little about him, saying residents could go largely unnoticed in the rural stretch of west Georgia where he lived. A former co-worker described him as a solid employee.

“He was a real quiet guy, real friendly, and he was always happy to help out,” said Jarid Ison, who worked with Warren at Penske for about a year. “He was salt of the earth type people — laid-back and friendly. This completely caught me off guard.”

He added: “You know somebody but you never really know somebody.”

Killed in the shooting were Van Springer, 59, and Jaider Phillipe Marulanda, 43, said Cobb County Police Officer Joe Hernandez. A third victim, 31-year-old Roberto Gonzalez, was pronounced dead late Wednesday at WellStar Kennestone Hospital but his body was on life support so he could donate organs, said spokesman Keith Bowermaster.

Warren worked at Penske from June 2005 until July, said Hard, who would not say why Warren left. Barbara Springer, a widow of one of the victims, said Warren had been laid off and that he was struggling with “some issues.” She would not elaborate.

It was the second fatal U.S. workplace shooting this month. Timothy Hendron, an employee at an ABB Inc. electrical plant in St. Louis, was accused of shooting hundreds of rounds of ammunition through the sprawling plant, killing three men and injuring five others before killing himself.

The Georgia killings took place as about two dozen employees were working at Penske complex in suburban Kennesaw, a city about 25 miles northwest of Atlanta.

Injured in the shooting Zachariah J. Werner, 35, and Joshua B. Holbrook, 27. The two men were in critical condition, said Bowermaster.

Holbrook told his father Bobby that the suspect held a gun to his head and pulled the trigger, but it didn’t fire. Bobby Holbrook told WSB-TV that the suspect then shot his son in the abdomen after he tried to get away. He said the bullet is lodged in his son’s back and that he is paralyzed.

“That’s the only reason Josh is living now,” he said. “He shot everybody else in the head.”

After the shootings, authorities said the gunman hopped in his pickup truck and sped away, only to be surrounded by Cobb County authorities about a mile away. He has been charged with two counts of murder and five counts of aggravated assault, but the third death could mean another murder charge.

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