UPS gunman targeted his victims, witnesses say

SAN FRANCISCO -- A United Parcel Service driver who opened fire during a meeting with co-workers had filed a grievance that he was working excessive overtime and appeared to specifically go after the three drivers he killed before fatally shooting himself.

Jimmy Lam, 38, filed the grievance in March complaining of too much overtime and requesting that the package delivery company relieve him of working extra hours going forward, said Joseph Cilia, an official with a Teamsters Union local that represents UPS workers in San Francisco.

During a Wednesday morning meeting, Lam walked up to driver Benson Louie and shot him. As his co-workers frantically fled the room, he shot Wayne Chan in the back, and then walked up to him and "finished him." Mike Lefiti was fleeing from the building when Lam went out onto the street and shot him, Cilia said witnesses told him.

"It's senseless. I can't think of anything. Why him? Why them?" Cilia asked. "I can't put it together."

Cilia told CBS San Francisco Lam wasn't angry, and he couldn't understand why he would open fire on his colleagues.

"Jimmy started working at UPS  in '99, and I've never seen him speak with a temper about someone," said Cilia.

"Maybe something bottled up," Cilia said. "Senseless."

But one witness told CBS San Francisco Lam was known as a hothead with a short temper who sometimes had arguments with coworkers.

Other coworkers told the station, off-camera, that they weren't surprised Lam targeted the victims. More than one employee said Lam walked right past other UPS workers and fired directly at his targets.

One wife of a UPS worker says her husband told her Lam shot people in cold blood.

Oficials late Wednesday confirmed San Francisco residents Louie, 50, and Chan, 56, and 46-year-old Lefiti, of Hercules, were the ones killed in the shooting.

Two other UPS employees were wounded, but Cilia said both were released from the hospital.

Amid a barrage of gunfire, some workers sought refuge on the roof of the four-story facility, while others ran outside and pounded on the windows of a public bus, witnesses said.

"They were screaming, 'Go! Go! Go!'" said Jessica Franklin, 30, who was riding to work when the bus made a regular stop in front of the UPS facility. "As they got on the bus, they were all ducking."

Auto shop owner Robert Kim said he saw "a mob of UPS drivers" running down the street screaming "Shooter! Shooter!"

The shooting prompted a massive police response in one of the city's industrial neighborhoods, about 2 miles from downtown San Francisco, Assistant Police Chief Toney Chaplin told reporters.

UPS spokesman Steve Gaut said the shooter was a company employee. A San Francisco Police Department official identified Lam, 38, and said he's from San Francisco but had no immediate details on his background.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.

Co-worker Isaiah Miggins said he saw Lefiti, known as "Big Mike," as he arrived for work just before 9 a.m., a few minutes before the shooting started. "He was a joyful man. Always happy," Miggins said.

On social media, heartbroken family members of Lefiti recalled him as a warm-spirited man devoted to his children and family. A photo on his Facebook page shows Lefiti in his brown UPS uniform holding a trophy. He also posted photos of his UPS truck and an award for 15 years of service to the company in 2015.

Chaplin said police have not determined a motive.

A 30-year-old tech worker who lives across the street from the warehouse said he heard up to eight gunshots.

"They were all in rapid succession," said Raymond Deng. "It was like tat, tat, tat, tat, tat, tat, tat."

Deng watched from his window in the Potrero Hill section of San Francisco as workers fled the building. He said another group of about 10 people gathered on the roof and held up their hands waving for help.

"I saw police officers go up from the ramp and then storm the buildings," he said. "It's crazy."

Officers found two victims outside and others inside and pulled the wounded to safety as they confronted the gunman, who was armed with an "assault pistol," Chaplin said.

"The suspect put the gun to his head and discharged the weapon," Chaplin said, adding that police did not fire any shots. Two guns were recovered at the scene, he said.