Worker kills 1, wounds another in dispute over nails at Palm Beach Gardens site

sun-sentinel.com & the Associated Press
Posted July 23 2001

PALM BEACH GARDENS -- A construction worker shot two co-workers with an AK-47 rifle Monday, killing one, after an argument with his foreman over picking up nails, police said.

The suspect, whose name was not immediately released, was taken into custody by police after the 9 a.m. shooting at a construction site at 13353 Provence Drive in an exclusive gated community in this West Palm Beach suburb.

The injured worker was in critical condition at St. Mary's Medical Center, police said.

Police said property management at the Frenchman's Creek subdivision approached the crew and asked them to pick up nails that were scattered on the ground.

The foreman asked the suspect to pick up the nails, police said.

``At that point, he became angry, went to his car, took out the AK-47 and started shooting,'' said Palm Beach Gardens Police Lt. Robert Artolla.

Police didn't know whether the foreman was one of the victims. The names of the victims were not immediately released pending notification of family members.

Artolla said police believe the suspect also turned the gun on other people at the construction site, but ran out of ammunition.  

Ban all guns.

Was it really an AK, or one of those full auto bolt action pump gun sniper rifles?

He takes an AK to work???  He ran out of ammo after shooting two people?  Either he is a terrible shot, mag not fully loaded, or it wasn't an AK.  I vote for 'it wasn't an AK'.

Maybe it's one of those 5rd mags that come with the gun.

Call in the U.N. for policing actions

My guess is that it was really a nail gun and he ran out of ammo because most of it was on the ground.

Actually, the Foreman was killed. The other guy was upgraded to good condition and should be OK. He ran out of ammo after 8 rounds. They showed it on TV (calling it a High-Powered Assault Rifle) and it had a 30 or 40 Round Magazine. Not sure which. It also had a folding stock. Pre-Ban ? Either that or a clear violation of the AW Ban. Also, the shooter was a 28 y/o Black Male. His Hispanic girlfriend said he was pissed because he was the only Black Guy at the company and because he was teased/ordered around alot. Sounds like they're trying the race card. Also, it could have been one of those pieces of crap with a single-stack mag. Some companies are trying to pawn off fake AKs with 10 Round Single Stack Mags. that can't accept Hi-Capacity Mags. The guy at the gun shop told me the mags. look exactly like a 30 Round Double-Stack. They also claimed he sprayed bullets. Was it full-auto ? If so, yet another crime commited. If not, then he didn't spray ammo. The liberal press down in S. Florida had a hayday saying things like "High-Powered Assault Rifle", "Sprayed Bullets", "Went on a killing spree with an Assault Rifle", etc, etc, etc...