2010 Connecticut workplace shooting

On August 3, 2010 a workplace shooting took place in Manchester, Connecticut, United States, which left nine people dead including the shooter. Allegedly, a former employee Omar Thornton shot and killed eight people before turning the gun on himself.
The events
Thornton, 34, was called into his place of employment for disciplinary purposes. Thornton was seen on surveillance video in the Hartford Distributors warehouse stealing on a previous occasion. Hartford Distributors is a wholesale distributor of Budweiser beer products and wine. After given the option of either being fired or resigning, Thornton signed the resignation papers and was being escorted out of the building when he opened fire killing eight and injuring two others. He then called his mother and explained to her what he had done then proceeded to tell her he planned on turning the gun on himself as the police were called, which he eventually did, resulting in his own death.
Family members of Thornton have stated that he had complained to them that he was being racially discriminated against at the plant and had reportedly claimed to have said that he found a picture of a noose and a racial epithet written on a bathroom wall. Thornton was black in a facility that had mostly white employees.
At the time of the shooting there were more than 150 employees in the building. The distribution center is family owned and most if not all of the employees are members of the Teamsters Union. When shots started, employees made calls to 911, with some callers identifying Thornton. The shootings continued for 45 minutes.
The killings made the tragedy the deadliest workplace shooting in Connecticut history. Connecticut suffered a similar workplace shooting at the Lottery Headquarters in Newington on March 6, 1998, which left five dead including the shooter. The Lottery Headquarters has since been relocated to Rocky Hill, CT.

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