ianstone
09-11-2010, 03:30 PM
Devout Muslim woman kills two female co-workers in gun rampage at food factory
By Mail Foreign Service (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/search.html?s=y&authornamef=Mail+Foreign+Service)
Last updated at 10:52 PM on 10th September 2010
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A devout Muslim woman killed two people and seriously wounded a third in a gun rampage at the U.S. food factory where she worked today.
In the latest workplace shooting to hit the U.S., Yvonne Hiller, who was described as 'spiritual' by a co-worker, walked back into the Kraft Foods factory in Philadelphia and attacked colleagues, police said.
Just 10 minutes before the .357 Magnum handgun shootings, she was escorted from the building as managers investigated an undisclosed incident.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/09/10/article-1310749-0B1D9DF6000005DC-63_468x343.jpg Killings: Police remove a body from the Kraft factory in Philadelphia, U.S., where a worker opened fire on colleagues killing two and seriously injuring another
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/09/10/article-1310749-0B1F40C3000005DC-836_468x309.jpg Shocking: Employees of the factory talk in the aftermath of the shootings
An hour later, police arrested Hiller at the the factory which manufactures Oreo cookies, Philadelphia cream cheese and Oscar Mayer bacon.
She was today facing question from detectives investigating the killings.
Hiller, who worked at the plant for 15 years, was suspended from her job and escorted from the premises, said Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey.
Nine minutes later, she drove through a fence surrounding the plant and entered the building armed with a .357 magnum handgun, Ramsey said.
She then went to the third-floor mixing room - where she worked as a mixer, co-workers said - and opened fire.
'I don't know what her motive is and I don't want to guess,' Ramsey said.
A co-worker today described Hiller as 'spiritual'.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/09/10/article-1310749-0B1E29F0000005DC-725_468x286.jpg Aftermath: A person injured in the shootings is placed on a stretcher before being taken to hospital
'She's not a loose cannon,' Kenneth Dorsey told NBC News in Philadelphia.
'She's a hard worker, works very hard. She's very spiritual.'
He said he had discussed Hiller's Muslim faith with her on previous occasions.
Mr Dorsey worked on the same floor as Hiller and her three victims, all believed to be women.
'They had argued, from what I was told, they argued,' he was quoted as saying.
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However he said that her run-ins with co-workers never went beyond the usual workplace tensions.
'I never in my deepest heart thought it would come to this,' he said.
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Philadelphia Police spokesman Lt. Frank Vanore said Hiller walked into the factory and fired on an employee who had followed her in.
The worker shouted 'Hide, she's got a gun,' as the shot missed, Vanore said.
The woman then shot the three victims, said police, who didn't immediately know the their identities or whether they had been targeted.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/09/10/article-1310749-0B1E29F4000005DC-943_468x286.jpg Emergency: Police and ambulance crews respond to the killings in Philadelphia
Officers responded and isolated the armed woman in a room, and she fired a shot at them but missed, Vanore said.
They freed seven people who were 'in a bad position' near the woman and were hiding but they were not thought to be held as hostages.
Hiller was then arrested at about 9.30pm as workers fled the six-storey building.
Police surrounded the plant minutes after the shooting, and roads in the area were detoured as officers swarmed nearby.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/09/10/article-1310749-0B1E3832000005DC-216_233x423.jpg Another shooting: Delivery driver Omar Thornton, 34, shot dead eight co-workers before turning the gun on himself
Dough mixer Andy Ryan, who has worked at the plant for nearly 30 years, said he was on the third floor when the sound of the shots echoed through the building, where cookies and crackers are made.
'I heard the gunfire, and I ran. As I was running down the steps they were yelling, "Oh, my God, there's three people shot."'
At least 100 people were reported to have been working inside the factory when shots were fired.
Kraft said in a statement that in addition to the three employees who were shot, a contract worker suffered a less serious injury, but it did not elaborate.
'This is a sad day for the Kraft Foods family,' the statement said. 'Our thoughts and prayers go out to their families. The loss of a loved one is a great sorrow.'
Kraft said the plant would be closed until further notice and the company would provide employees with counselling.
Last night's shooting came just weeks after a driver who had been accused of stealing from a beer distributor shot and killed eight people and then himself.
The driver, Omar Thornton, had calmly agreed to quit on August 3 after being confronted with surveillance video showing him stealing beer.
But shortly afterward, he started shooting at the building in Manchester, Connecticut.
Thornton, who was black, had seethed with a sense of racial injustice in his job at Hartford Distributors, said his girlfriend, Kristi Hannah.
Mass shootings are rarely carried out by women, said Dr. Park Dietz, president of Threat Assessment Group Inc., a California-based violence prevention firm.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/09/10/article-1310749-0B1E3857000005DC-649_468x286.jpg Response: Emergency services at the beer distributor in Manchester, Connecticut
Some notable exceptions include a 1985 rampage at a mall in Springfield, Pennsylvania, that left three people dead and seven wounded.
Sylvia Seegrist was found guilty of murder but mentally ill in that case and was given three life sentences.
She said in 1991 she hoped she wouldn't have to spend the rest of her life in prison and 'maybe 15 or 20 years would be fair.'
Earlier this year, Amy Bishop, a former instructor and researcher at the University of Alabama's Huntsville campus, was charged with murder in a campus shooting spree that left three biology professors dead and three other employees injured.
Read more: [URL]http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1310749/Kraft-factory-shooting-Two-workers-shot-dead-injured.html#ixzz0zFcdAxi4 (http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/82985662.html)
By Mail Foreign Service (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/search.html?s=y&authornamef=Mail+Foreign+Service)
Last updated at 10:52 PM on 10th September 2010
Comments (34) (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1310749/Kraft-factory-shooting-Two-workers-shot-dead-injured.html#comments)
Add to My Stories (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1310749/Kraft-factory-shooting-Two-workers-shot-dead-injured.html)
A devout Muslim woman killed two people and seriously wounded a third in a gun rampage at the U.S. food factory where she worked today.
In the latest workplace shooting to hit the U.S., Yvonne Hiller, who was described as 'spiritual' by a co-worker, walked back into the Kraft Foods factory in Philadelphia and attacked colleagues, police said.
Just 10 minutes before the .357 Magnum handgun shootings, she was escorted from the building as managers investigated an undisclosed incident.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/09/10/article-1310749-0B1D9DF6000005DC-63_468x343.jpg Killings: Police remove a body from the Kraft factory in Philadelphia, U.S., where a worker opened fire on colleagues killing two and seriously injuring another
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/09/10/article-1310749-0B1F40C3000005DC-836_468x309.jpg Shocking: Employees of the factory talk in the aftermath of the shootings
An hour later, police arrested Hiller at the the factory which manufactures Oreo cookies, Philadelphia cream cheese and Oscar Mayer bacon.
She was today facing question from detectives investigating the killings.
Hiller, who worked at the plant for 15 years, was suspended from her job and escorted from the premises, said Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey.
Nine minutes later, she drove through a fence surrounding the plant and entered the building armed with a .357 magnum handgun, Ramsey said.
She then went to the third-floor mixing room - where she worked as a mixer, co-workers said - and opened fire.
'I don't know what her motive is and I don't want to guess,' Ramsey said.
A co-worker today described Hiller as 'spiritual'.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/09/10/article-1310749-0B1E29F0000005DC-725_468x286.jpg Aftermath: A person injured in the shootings is placed on a stretcher before being taken to hospital
'She's not a loose cannon,' Kenneth Dorsey told NBC News in Philadelphia.
'She's a hard worker, works very hard. She's very spiritual.'
He said he had discussed Hiller's Muslim faith with her on previous occasions.
Mr Dorsey worked on the same floor as Hiller and her three victims, all believed to be women.
'They had argued, from what I was told, they argued,' he was quoted as saying.
More...
One person killed and more than 50 buildings destroyed after gas explosion tears through San Francisco suburb (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1310734/San-Francisco-gas-explosion-One-killed-50-buildings-destroyed.html)
Man arrested after firing AK47 rifle to defend home from notorious New York gang (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1310439/Man-defended-home-gang-firing-AK47-arrested.html)
However he said that her run-ins with co-workers never went beyond the usual workplace tensions.
'I never in my deepest heart thought it would come to this,' he said.
[/URL]
Philadelphia Police spokesman Lt. Frank Vanore said Hiller walked into the factory and fired on an employee who had followed her in.
The worker shouted 'Hide, she's got a gun,' as the shot missed, Vanore said.
The woman then shot the three victims, said police, who didn't immediately know the their identities or whether they had been targeted.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/09/10/article-1310749-0B1E29F4000005DC-943_468x286.jpg Emergency: Police and ambulance crews respond to the killings in Philadelphia
Officers responded and isolated the armed woman in a room, and she fired a shot at them but missed, Vanore said.
They freed seven people who were 'in a bad position' near the woman and were hiding but they were not thought to be held as hostages.
Hiller was then arrested at about 9.30pm as workers fled the six-storey building.
Police surrounded the plant minutes after the shooting, and roads in the area were detoured as officers swarmed nearby.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/09/10/article-1310749-0B1E3832000005DC-216_233x423.jpg Another shooting: Delivery driver Omar Thornton, 34, shot dead eight co-workers before turning the gun on himself
Dough mixer Andy Ryan, who has worked at the plant for nearly 30 years, said he was on the third floor when the sound of the shots echoed through the building, where cookies and crackers are made.
'I heard the gunfire, and I ran. As I was running down the steps they were yelling, "Oh, my God, there's three people shot."'
At least 100 people were reported to have been working inside the factory when shots were fired.
Kraft said in a statement that in addition to the three employees who were shot, a contract worker suffered a less serious injury, but it did not elaborate.
'This is a sad day for the Kraft Foods family,' the statement said. 'Our thoughts and prayers go out to their families. The loss of a loved one is a great sorrow.'
Kraft said the plant would be closed until further notice and the company would provide employees with counselling.
Last night's shooting came just weeks after a driver who had been accused of stealing from a beer distributor shot and killed eight people and then himself.
The driver, Omar Thornton, had calmly agreed to quit on August 3 after being confronted with surveillance video showing him stealing beer.
But shortly afterward, he started shooting at the building in Manchester, Connecticut.
Thornton, who was black, had seethed with a sense of racial injustice in his job at Hartford Distributors, said his girlfriend, Kristi Hannah.
Mass shootings are rarely carried out by women, said Dr. Park Dietz, president of Threat Assessment Group Inc., a California-based violence prevention firm.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/09/10/article-1310749-0B1E3857000005DC-649_468x286.jpg Response: Emergency services at the beer distributor in Manchester, Connecticut
Some notable exceptions include a 1985 rampage at a mall in Springfield, Pennsylvania, that left three people dead and seven wounded.
Sylvia Seegrist was found guilty of murder but mentally ill in that case and was given three life sentences.
She said in 1991 she hoped she wouldn't have to spend the rest of her life in prison and 'maybe 15 or 20 years would be fair.'
Earlier this year, Amy Bishop, a former instructor and researcher at the University of Alabama's Huntsville campus, was charged with murder in a campus shooting spree that left three biology professors dead and three other employees injured.
Read more: [URL]http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1310749/Kraft-factory-shooting-Two-workers-shot-dead-injured.html#ixzz0zFcdAxi4 (http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/82985662.html)