news digest ♦ compound semiconductor ♦ industry news Emcore Ex-Employee goes on Shooting Spree
The former skilled operator opened fire inside the South East Albuquerque Emcore facility, killing two employees and injuring four others before turning the gun on himself.
A former employee of Emcore shot and killed two women and injured four other employees at Emcore’s facility in New Mexico.
According to the most recent reports on KRQE News 13, police say Robert Reza, aged 37, first confronted 47 year old Sharon Cunningham outside the Emcore building, shot her two times and moved on. She was killed. Police say Reza’s ex-girlfriend Adrienne Basciano, 49, and 36 year old Michele Turner were sitting at a picnic table nearby. Reza shot Basciano multiple times. He then chased after Turner and shot her multiple times, killing her. From there police say Reza shot out a 3 foot window and climbed into the building. Inside, he shot 3 more people before going into an office and killing himself. They also said, “Several more employees were injured while trying to flee.”
Since the tragedy, which occurred around about 9.30am on 12July, there have been conflicting statements about the shooting. An initial statement from Albuquerque Police Chief, Ray Schultz, given on KRQE News 13, said that there were 6 fatalities including the shooter. According to CNN News, it was later reported by authorities that that the number of fatalities stood at 3. Earlier reports also mistakenly identified the shooter as a woman. Some reports said around 85Emcore employees were later taken to a community center for interviews with detectives, while others say some 220 were transported. Police said miscommunication among officers and emergency personnel was to blame for the erroneous reports.
In his initial statement, Schultz said “Six people have been removed from within the facility. They have been transported to the University (of New Mexico) hospital as part of a mass casualty response. Of the 6 people who have been transported to the University hospital, 2 have since died as a result of their gunshot wounds. At this time we have 2 people who are in a stable condition and we have 2 that are in the Emergency room in the OR.” He also said that they believed the incident “to be a domestic violence workplace situation.”
104
www.compoundsemiconductor.net August/September 2010
Schultz later commented on Kob TV, “We don’t know if they were specific targets or if they just were in the wrong place at the wrong time. It appears that the gunman, obviously after shooting his girlfriend, we believe he was looking for somebody else…”
According to more recent CNN reports, awoman and man, both 58, and a 54-year-old woman have since been released from the hospital.
KOB.com reported that at a press conference on Tuesday, Chief Operating Officer at Emcore, Chris Larocca said, “Yesterday’s shooting was a horrendous tragedy, and our company and employees are still processing what happened”. He also said that grief counseling will continue to be available to Emcore employees and that the company will pay full salaries and benefits to the families of the victims for a year and take care of all funeral arrangements.
Questions have since been asked as to how Reza was able to get inside the building, which has been described as secure. At the press conference Larocca said, “All of our buildings are locked all day long. They require pass keys to get into any entrance or exit in the building. So it is a very secure building.”
Having worked at Emcore as an operator for nearly three years, Robert Reza had some knowledge of the building layout but there was nothing in his personnel file that raised any red flags. KRQE News 13 reports said that Larocca made it clear that Reza was not fired from his job at Emcore ; he resigned in July 2009 for medical reasons.
Larocca concluded, “We intend to honor victims and their families, support our employees in every manner possible, and return to a normal work environment just as soon as practical.”
The company have set up an Employee Crisis Hotlineaccessible on the following number: (505) 750-1584
Our hearts and deepest sympathies go out to all those affected by this senseless tragedy.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156 |
Page 157 |
Page 158 |
Page 159 |
Page 160 |
Page 161 |
Page 162 |
Page 163 |
Page 164 |
Page 165 |
Page 166 |
Page 167 |
Page 168 |
Page 169 |
Page 170 |
Page 171 |
Page 172 |
Page 173 |
Page 174 |
Page 175 |
Page 176 |
Page 177 |
Page 178 |
Page 179 |
Page 180 |
Page 181 |
Page 182 |
Page 183 |
Page 184 |
Page 185 |
Page 186 |
Page 187 |
Page 188 |
Page 189 |
Page 190 |
Page 191 |
Page 192 |
Page 193 |
Page 194 |
Page 195 |
Page 196 |
Page 197 |
Page 198 |
Page 199 |
Page 200 |
Page 201 |
Page 202 |
Page 203 |
Page 204 |
Page 205 |
Page 206 |
Page 207 |
Page 208 |
Page 209 |
Page 210 |
Page 211 |
Page 212 |
Page 213