Shooting spree first in 30 years at Lockheed plant

Jul 16, 2003 12:00 PM

There was no security guard on duty at the Meridian, Miss., Lockheed Martin plant, where employee Doug Williams went on a shooting spree last week, killing five co-workers and injuring nine others before killing himself.

"Security at the plant is consistent with a plant that has no classified work going on," Dain Hancock, Lockheed Martin president, said at a news conference following the shooting last Tuesday. "We have been in the plant for more than 30 years with no incidents."

At the time of the shooting, 138 employees were at work. Authorities said the damage could have been worse if Williams had used the full arsenal of weapons found in his truck parked outside the plant.

Williams was attending an ethics and sensitivity training session with co-workers when he abruptly got up and left. He returned armed with several weapons, including a 12-gauge shotgun, a Mini-14 .223 semiautomatic and extra shells and ammunition. Authorities reported that his vehicle was stocked with a .22 Magnum derringer, a .45-caliber Ruger pistol, a .22 rifle with a scope and even more ammunition. He immediately began firing at co-workers, and then walked onto the factory floor and continued shooting.

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