Five Killed in Illinois Factory Shooting
By TAMMY WEBBER
.c The Associated Press
MELROSE PARK, Ill. (Feb. 5) - A factory worker who got caught stealing from his employer burst into the suburban Chicago engine plant Monday and opened fire one day before he was to report to prison. Five people, including the gunman, were killed and four others were wounded.
William D. Baker, 66, was scheduled to surrender Tuesday to start serving a five-month federal prison sentence for conspiracy to commit theft from an interstate shipment.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Nancy Needles confirmed that Baker was the gunman and county authorities said he was among the dead. Other details on the gunman and the victims were not immediately released.
''I said to myself, how could it be Baker, he's such a nice guy,'' said Julio Negron, a shipping department worker on disability who came to the Navistar plant when he heard the news.
Employees said the shooting began at about 10 a.m. Martin Reutimann, a 24-year-old engineer, was sitting at his desk when he heard gunfire.
''I heard somebody yell, 'There's a guy in the center aisle with a gun!''' The aisle is a long hallway where engines are tested, he said.
Reutimann said he didn't believe it at first, then saw people running past him. He grabbed his coat and cellular phone and dialed 911.
The plant, about 15 miles from company headquarters in downtown Chicago, employs about 1,400 people, Navistar spokesman Roy Wiley said.
Baker, a tool room attendant from suburban Carol Stream, had worked at the plant for 39 years before he was fired in 1994. He pleaded guilty to the federal charge last June.
According to his plea agreement, Baker admitted helping a fellow plant employee steal diesel engines and components worth $195,400. He used his forklift to hoist the engines onto a waiting truck driven by the other employee, according to the agreement.
The thefts began in the fall of 1993 and stopped the next spring.
Baker was sentenced Nov. 7. He faced five months of house arrest after his prison term and restitution of the $195,400.
The shooting comes six weeks after seven people were shot to death at a Wakefield, Mass., Internet consulting company, Edgewater Technology Inc. Software tester Michael McDermott is charged with murder in the Dec. 26 rampage. Authorities said the shooting may have stemmed from an Internal Revenue Service order to seize part of his wages to repay back taxes.
Navistar International is the nation's second-biggest producer of heavy-duty trucks, which it sells under the International brand. It also manufactures mid-sized trucks, school buses and diesel engines, which it also sells to Ford and other truck makers. The Melrose Park plant makes medium-duty engines.
The company employs about 17,000 people and had $8.4 billion in sales last year. In December, it reported fourth-quarter profits were down 36 percent. The company announced 1,100 layoffs in August.
Navistar operates production plants in Canada, Mexico and the United States and has a contract manufacturing operation in Brazil. It exports its products to more than 70 countries and ranked No. 202 on the latest Fortune 500 list of America's biggest companies.
AP-NY-02-05-01 1629EST
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