A man who had reportedly been fired earlier in the day Tuesday brought guns to his place of work, The Ford Store in Morgan Hill, and fatally shot two employees there before turning the gun on himself.
The shooting happened around 6 p.m. Tuesday night, and officers arrived to find the gunman dead in the parking lot, the gun still in his hand. The two victims in the shooting, both men identified as managers, were found inside the dealership at 17045 Condit Road, as KTVU reports. NBC Bay Area reports that there were multiple witnesses to the shootings, and KPIX reports via a witness that the victims were the Service & Parts Department director and the Parts manager.
It has been a violent few days in the San Jose area, with a murder-suicide on Sunday that claimed five lives, and the latest incident appears to have been a workplace shooting by a disgruntled employee, the likes of which have become all too common nationwide.
#BREAKING: Police swarm Ford dealership in Morgan Hill. Police sources tell @NBCBayArea multiple people have been shot. https://t.co/6jNTLc1EN8 pic.twitter.com/5Es0rldZQK
— Kristofer Noceda (@krisnoceda) June 26, 2019
"Someone from the dealership was fired today, came back and apparently just shot the two managers who obviously would’ve fired him," says 20-year-old Jordan Valdez, an employee at the Ford Store, speaking to the Mercury News.
A contractor at the dealership tells an NBC Bay Area reporter that he overheard a manager saying, just before the shooting, "I fired him and he won't leave the premises." Another person asked, "Should we be worried," and the manager replied, "He has a history of guns."
MORGAN HILL SHOOTING:
— Ian Cull (@NBCian) June 26, 2019
I just spoke with a witness who was inside the Ford dealership when it happened. He’s a contractor and recalled an employee saying right before the shooting.
“I fired him, and he won’t leave the premises,”
“Should we be worried?”
“He has a history of guns.” pic.twitter.com/MWJWYFIcmH
Neither the deceased gunman nor the two victims has been identified publicly yet.
KPIX reports that SWAT members broke down the door of a home where the suspect was believed to be living, early Wednesday morning.
The suspect, described only as a man in his 60s, reportedly knew he was going to be fired Tuesday and had brought the weapons to work. After being fired, he apparently refused to leave the dealership, and just after 6 p.m. the shooting began. A witness said that one of the men shot was a supervisor who tried to wrestle the suspect after his gun was drawn on the other victim.
NBC Bay Area reports that crime scene cleanup crews were on site Wednesday morning cleaning up the area outside the dealership's service center.