3 Dead In Workplace Shooting At Morgan Hill Ford Dealership
MORGAN HILL (CBS SF) -- A Ford employee who was fired Tuesday shot and killed two of his managers before turning the gun on himself at the Morgan Hill dealership they worked at, according to several witnesses.
Morgan Hill police received multiple 911 calls of a shooting at the Ford dealership on Condit Road at about 6:03 p.m. Tuesday evening and officers arrived at around 6:07 p.m.
Upon arrival, they located a deceased male subject, who suffered what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound, at the north end of the building toward the service department, Sgt. Bill Norman of the Morgan Hill Police Department said.
Police said the male had a handgun by his side. Two additional male subjects with gunshot wounds were found inside the building. Morgan Hill police said all three of the people shot worked at the dealership. A massive police response was seen outside the building.
A law enforcement source told KPIX 5 the suspect knew he was going to get fired on Tuesday and brought two guns to work. He shot his manager after being terminated, then another supervisor who tried to step in and wrestled with the suspect before he was killed.
Doug Macglashan was hired by the dealership for the day from Southern California to train employees on new software, and he was nearly done before the day suddenly turned deadly.
He identified the two victims as the Service & Parts Department Director -- who he'd spent the entire day with -- as well as the Parts manager. The suspect, MacGlashan said, was a Ford Parts representative.
Macglashan said the suspect wouldn't leave the premises after he was fired.
"About 10, 15 minutes later, gunshots," he said. "It's just scarier than hell. I'm not used to hearing gunshots, I'm not used to being around this type of violence. So it's just scary."
Jordan Valdez, a Ford dealership employee, said he was at work at the time of the shooting. He said the suspect was in his 60s and had worked for the company for several years.
"Service adviser just looked at me and says, 'Run there's someone shooting,'" Valdez said. Valdez said he did not know why the suspect had lost his job.
"He was a very quiet individual, just kind of minded his own business, very to himself, he did his job," he said.
Family and friends quickly rushed to the scene as surviving Ford employees slowly trickled out to reunite with their loved ones. Many were visibly shaken and emotional.
"My husband told me that there was a shooting and that he was OK," said Claudio Castellanos, who was waiting for her husband at the dealership.
She said he was able to call her when he could, but that he had left behind his cell phone as the chaos unfolded. Law enforcement from several agencies responded to the scene within minutes, and thought they could be dealing with an active shooter.
"I just ran so I'm thankful to God that he didn't decide to shoot anybody else," said Valdez.
The identities of the suspect and victims have not yet been released, but a police source told KPIX 5 that the suspect is from San Jose.
Police were searching a home in San Jose late Tuesday evening, believed to be the suspect's home. Police said the house is now a crime scene and the street has been cordoned off, with only residents being let through.
Neighbor Abby Rodriguez said the suspect was a "pretty normal guy."
Morgan Hill PD is the lead agency in an ongoing investigation, along with the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Department, CHP, Cal Fire Police and Morgan Hill Fire.
Condit Road remains closed from Dunne Avenue to Diana Avenue, police said. All residents in the area have access to their homes through other means. The only business currently impacted is La Quinta Hotel and its guests.