Widow files suit claiming Penske Truck Rental warned about ex-worker’s threats before shooting

Widow: Penske warned of threats before shooting

ATLANTA — The widow of a victim of a shooting rampage that claimed three lives at a Penske Truck Rental facility said in a lawsuit Friday that company managers received several warnings that a disgruntled ex-employee threatened to kill people but failed to take “reasonable steps” to protect its workers.

The suit filed in a Cobb County court claimed former technician Jessie James Warren made death threats to several of his colleagues at the Kennesaw facility, but managers failed to respond. It also claims that Warren made “overt threats” to kill people to a mental health counselor before the Jan. 12 shooting spree.

Prosecutors say Warren burst into the Atlanta area office wearing camouflage and unloaded his handgun into a crowd of former colleagues as the office was bustling with some two dozen workers and several customers. When the attack was over, three people were dead — two employees and a customer — and two more were in critical condition, according to authorities.

After the shootings, prosecutors say Warren sped away in a pickup truck and was arrested by authorities about a mile away. He has pleaded not guilty to murder charges and is being held without bond.

The lawsuit was filed by Barbara Springer, the widow of a 59-year-old Penske worker killed in the attack, Van Springer. It claims Penske’s upper-level management was warned numerous times that Warren was plotting to kill people at the Kennesaw location.

Penske spokesman Randy Ryerson declined to address the specific allegations Friday, but said in a statement the company was working to support the families of the victims.

“The incident was an unpreventable random act of violence committed by a former associate, who had been dismissed almost six months prior to the shooting,” he said. “Because we understand that a lawsuit has now been filed, we will not provide any additional comments at this time.”

In the lawsuit, the widow also contends that a mental health counselor the company assigned to Warren “utterly failed” to warn the proper authorities of Warren’s death threats. The company, it said, should have taken extra security measures to prevent Warren from carrying out the threats.

Mark Tate, the attorney who filed the suit, said Penske’s managers decided to hire a security guard to patrol the grounds after receiving the threats. But he said the company cut the service after two weeks, instead putting a can of mace in the office for protection.

Warren worked at Penske from June 2005 until July 2009, the company said, but it did not say why he left.

Associated Press Writer Russ Bynum in Savannah contributed to this report.