A ‘restless employee’, who killed a supermarket manager and wounded two employees, asked to be transferred 40 minutes before he broke loose from his store in Long Island, police said on Wednesday.
According to the Nassau County Police Department, it was still not immediately clear what led to suspect Gabriel DeWitt Wilson, 31, acting deadly at a Stop & Shop full of customers Tuesday morning in West Hempstead.
Driver Ray Wishropp, 49, of Valley Stream, was fatally shot with a .387 caliber semi-automatic pistol, authorities said.
Wilson, according to officials, fired seven shots at five people, hitting Wishropp, a 50-year-old Bethpage man and a 26-year-old Bayshore woman. The wounded man was grazed on the cheek and beaten twice in the shoulder. Police were once hit in the shoulder.
Before gunfire broke out in the driver’s office on the second floor, Wilson was at the same location and asked to be moved to another Stop & Shop location in Hempstead, Nassau police. Lieutenant Stephen Fitzpatrick said.
“It was not confrontational at the time,” Fitzpatrick told reporters on Wednesday. “He left the building without any violence or anything being said. Forty minutes later he returned to the building and you know the rest. He walked to the offices and opened fire on five individuals. ‘
There was apparently no hint that Wilson’s transfer request was in question or would be denied.
“He was told to let the (Hempstead) driver call him (West Hempstead drivers),” Fitzpatrick said. ‘He (Wilson) would have to fill out a form and it would happen. It was inconvenient. ‘
Wilson, who worked as a collector of a shopping cart, was constantly having problems with his co-workers and has been transported to meetings with managers several times, police said.
“Gabriel was a grieving employee and in the months leading up to this incident, he had undesirable progress with women working there,” Fitzpatrick said. “He quarreled with other workers and threatened them and was brought to the management office several times.”
Representatives of unions representing workers at Stop & Shop could not be immediately reached for comment Wednesday.
The suspect was caught in a nearby apartment building in Terrancelaan in Hempstead. The rifle used during Tuesday’s shooting was not immediately found.
“Detectives are currently withdrawing his steps to find the gun,” Fitzpatrick said.
Madeline Singas, district attorney in Nassau County, charged with second-degree murder and attempted murder. If convicted, he could face up to 25 years in prison for life, according to the DA.
NBC New York reports an innocent plea on his behalf during a ruling. According to the news station, his next court appearance is planned for Friday.
The store is expected to remain open until Sunday morning as police continue their investigation there.
