A recently-fired UPS employee shot dead two people at a UPS facility in Birmingham, Alabama, before killing himself, Tuesday.
Police responded to several emergency calls 9:20 a.m. local time about a gunman wearing a UPS uniform opening fire, said Birmingham Police Chief A.C. Roper, reports The Wall Street Journal.
The gunman was identified as 45-year-old Joe Tesney by local news stations. Lt. Sean Edwards said the two men killed appeared to be higher-ranked UPS employees. "It appears that the shooter knew exactly who he wanted to target at the time," Edwards told WBRC.
According to The Birmingham News, Tesney a father of two, was fired Monday from the company. The reason for firing was not clear; however, a source said that his termination was upheld last week during an appeal hearing.
The incident happened at a UPS facility near the Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport in the warehouse area of the building. "Police were contacted, and UPS is offering full cooperation to verify circumstances and personnel on site," said UPS in a statement.
The University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital stated that it was treating "one non-gunshot-related patient" from the incident, said spokesman Tyler Greer, without disclosing further details. "When these people came into work today, they had no idea this would be their last day on Earth," Roper said, reports the Washington Post. "No one was doing anything risky. They were just people working at their job."
Jefferson County court records show a Birmingham businessman sued Tesney and UPS in 2010 claiming he wrongly picked up a $4,000 radiator for shipment either intentionally or by mistake, report The Associated Press. The lawsuit stretched for years before a judge ruled in favor of Tesney and the shipping company a year ago on September 23, 2013. However, it remains unclear whether the shooting incident stemmed from the lawsuit.
