July - 2019

Workplace Violence Prevention Institute - WVPI

a not-for-profit organization

Providing Workplace Violence Prevention Research, Education and Training

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Key Takeaways to Minimize the Risk of Workplace Violence

Key Takeaways to Minimize the Risk of Workplace Violence

Yesterday's brutal mass shooting at a Mississippi Walmart store which left two employees dead and a police officer injured should serve as a reminder that workplace violence can and does happen "here." In January 2017 the WVPI's article relating strategies to prevent workplace violence as addressed by leading industry experts was published as the cover story in the leading insurance industry periodical Claims Magazine. Two and one half years later, this information still ring

Man Charged With Shooting Four Co-Workers Over Possible Paycheck Dispute

Man Charged With Shooting Four Co-Workers Over Possible Paycheck Dispute

A 24-year-old moving company employee has been charged with shooting five people, including four of his co-workers of a San Antonio, Texas moving company. Carol Brannon the mother of Maurice Brannon, 38, one of the workers who was shot stated her son on July 17, 2019 believes the gunman had a possible grievance with the business arising from a dispute over his paycheck. Kwenton Thomas, 24, has been arrested and charged with five counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weap

Suspended Employee Goes on Shooting Rampage at Mississippi Walmart

Suspended Employee Goes on Shooting Rampage at Mississippi Walmart

Two people, both believed to be employees, are dead and an officer has been wounded inside a Walmart store in Mississippi. Early reports indicate the suspect who was also wounded was suspended after purportedly bringing a knife to work and showing it to a coworker. He returned today to the Walmart store where he worked in Southaven with a gun and reportedly fired more than a dozen rounds. Please read the January 2017 Claims Magazine article written by the WVPI for strategies

OSHA Investigates and Fines USVI Employer Following Worker Homicide

OSHA Investigates and Fines USVI Employer Following Worker Homicide

On March 30, 2019, Bariki George, a 23-year-old employee of a United States Virgin Islands moving company was found dead from multiple gunshot wounds in his employer's break room. A co-worker of George's at the Viking Corporation located in St. Thomas has been arrested and charged with first degree murder in connection with the occupational homicide. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) opened a file to investigate George's workplace homicide on March 26,

Terminated Florida Employee Arrested After Sending Text Threatening a Mass Shooting

Terminated Florida Employee Arrested After Sending Text Threatening a Mass Shooting

We have repeatedly addressed the importance of implementing systems providing employees and other witnesses with a formal mechanism to report pre-event leakage of violent intent as a key strategy to mitigate the risk of workplace violence. According to research published by the F.B.I. in 2018 and a July 2019 study by the United States Secret Service, active shooters frequently leak violent intent to others either verbally or in writing before their attacks. Today the WVPI has

Bomb Detonated At Philadelphia Eatery 10 Days Following Philly Airport Bomb Scare

Bomb Detonated At Philadelphia Eatery 10 Days Following Philly Airport Bomb Scare

A bombing at a Philadelphia take-out eatery reminds us that workplace violence is not limited to active shooter episodes. Surveillance video shows a possible M-80 explosive device detonating at the New Asia Restaurant on July 22, 2019. The bombing left a 19-year-old man hospitalized. The suspect fled the scene and remains at large. Local and federal authorities are investigating the bombing. Ten days earlier on July 12, 2019 a bomb scare occurred at Philadelphia International

Professor Urges Japan To Follow U.S./Europe's Lead on Risk Management Following Mass Workplace K

Professor Urges Japan To Follow U.S./Europe's Lead on Risk Management Following Mass Workplace K

The death toll is now 34 in last week's horrific workplace arson attack in Japan with another 34 injured, some critically. It is being reported the suspect Shinji Aoba, 41, was "raging about theft" and held a "grudge" when he set fire to Kyoto Animations where 70 people were working shouting "you die." The suspect fled the burning building but was chased by studio employees and caught before being apprehended by law enforcement. He is being hospitalized for burns sustained in

Wyoming Hospital Workplace Shooter Convicted of Aggravated Assault

Wyoming Hospital Workplace Shooter Convicted of Aggravated Assault

On July 17, 2019, a jury convicted a 20 year old Casper, Wyoming man of two counts of aggravated assault after opening fire in March 2019 inside the Wyoming Medical Center (WMC) and threatening the lives of an emergency room doctor and a housekeeper. Mitchell Taylor, 20, of Casper, Wyoming was accused of pointing a gun at two hospital employees inside the facility and of firing his weapon seven times. Taylor testified in his own defense at his trial and asserted that he did n

30 Japanese Workers Killed in Workplace Violence Attack

30 Japanese Workers Killed in Workplace Violence Attack

A man burst into a workplace today in Kyoto, Japan and screamed “You die!" He then set fire to the business, an animation production studio. Photo (c) The Japan Times Thirty people have been either confirmed or presumed dead in the fire. This savage attack drives home the point that workplace violence is a global problem. Please watch the following video: Sources: https://www.kansascity.com/entertainment/article232816152.html https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2019/jul/

Columbine Killer Wrote About Using a Highjacked Plane as a Weapon 2.5 years before 9/11

Columbine Killer Wrote About Using a Highjacked Plane as a Weapon 2.5 years before 9/11

The dots to all school and many other workplace shootings/bombings can be connected back to the Columbine High School failed bombing/active shooter incident of April 20, 1999 which left 12 students and one teacher dead. Can there be any question this event which ushered in the modern active school shooter/bomber era was domestic terrorism? Pictured: Pres. George W. Bush signing the PATRIOT Act into law October 26, 2001. In 1998 while foreign-bred terrorists plotted their atta

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