Workers who survived a shooting rampage returned to the Navistar engine plant Tuesday and met with counselors, and authorities investigated how the gunman -- a convicted felon -- got his weapons.
Fired Navistar employee William D. Baker had four guns when he overpowered a security guard Monday, shot four people to death, wounded four others and then fatally shot himself. He was to have begun a federal prison term Tuesday for helping to steal engines and parts from the suburban Chicago plant, police said.
Authorities said Baker had an AK-47 fully automatic assault rifle, a .30-caliber hunting rifle, a Remington 12-gauge pump shotgun and a .38-caliber revolver.
Convicted felons are barred from owning guns, said Special Agent Thomas Ahern of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. If Baker had purchased the guns before his conviction, he would have been required to turn them in, Ahern said.
Besides the theft case, Baker pleaded guilty in 1998 to a sex charge involving a family member under 17 and was placed on probation. Illinois State Police said he had been issued a new firearms owner identification card two weeks before he was convicted in the sex case.
Among those who returned to the plant Tuesday was John Harris, a 45-year employee who knew Baker and each of the victims. He came to the plant to see a counselor, then planned to go home.
"This is something that's almost unpreventable, something happening all over the country now," the 64-year-old Harris said a counselor told him.
Employees of the International Truck and Engine Corp. plant, which makes medium-duty engines for parent company Navistar, were allowed to stay home a day after the rampage.
Recommended for you
"Our main focus is on providing counseling for the employees and families," company spokesman Roy Wiley said.
Dorsch's brother said his brother liked his job.
"He was the person that (would) roll up his sleeves and not go, 'I'm the boss and I tell you what to do.' He would be right in there helping them," Terry Dorsch said.
"You don't think it would ever happen to your family, something like that," he said. "It is very difficult, very hard."
Baker, of Carol Stream, was a tool room attendant who had worked at the plant for 39 years before he was fired in 1994.
In his plea agreement, Baker admitted helping a fellow employee steal diesel engines and components worth $195,400. He used his forklift to hoist the engines onto a truck driven by the other employee.
Baker's lawyer, Charles Piet, told the Chicago Sun-Times that Baker was upset over the sentence, saying he "didn't feel it was fair given that his participation was very minor." But Piet said Baker expressed no bitterness toward Navistar.<
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO
personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who
make comments. Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. Don't threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Anyone violating these rules will be issued a
warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be
revoked.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.