Timothy Hendron

Case overview

Timothy Hendron, a 51-year-old ABB employee and former supervisor, committed suicide by shooting himself on January 7, 2010 at an ABB power plant in St. Louis, Missouri.

Timeline

• January 7, 2010 (around 6:30 AM local time) — Timothy Hendron opened fire in a parking lot near the factory and then moved inside.
• January 7, 2010 (around 6:45 AM local time) — The first 911 call was received, reporting that a gunman was moving about the complex and that he had shot several people.
• January 7, 2010 — Hendron fired about 100 rounds of ammunition, killing two people in the parking lot and another person inside the factory before killing himself before police arrived.
• The day after the shootings — ABB released a statement mourning the deaths of its employees, including a quote from its CEO, Joe Hogan.
• November 18, 2010 — Police report material attributed to Christine Byers appeared, describing a 150-page report delivered to the Board of Police Commissioners and an interview with Chief Dan Isom.

Background

Police identified Timothy Hendron as a resident of Webster Groves, Missouri, and an employee of ABB. No motive was identified, though he was known to be part of a class action lawsuit against ABB pertaining to the company’s pension plan, specifically unidentified fees and expenses in employees’ 401(k) accounts.

People who knew Hendron said he had been increasingly unhappy with his job at ABB, going so far as to search for a labor lawyer.

The offence

Timothy Hendron arrived at work with an AK-47-styled assault rifle, at least two Hi-Point handguns, a pump-action shotgun, and hundreds of rounds of ammunition on Thursday, January 7, 2010.

The shootings began around 6:30 AM local time when Hendron opened fire in a parking lot near the factory and then moved inside.

The incident involved multiple victims and multiple locations within the ABB complex. Hendron fired about 100 rounds of ammunition. Five people were injured, including two in critical condition.

Other employees took refuge on the roof of the building or in rooms within the factory.

An employee at the facility returned fire with his concealed firearm when the gunman was moving down the hall towards a group of workers who were hiding in a break room.

Investigation

Police later found a third handgun near a guard shack. Police Capt. Michael Sack said investigators interviewed 56 witnesses and studied dozens of pieces of evidence to try to assemble a picture of what happened that day.

Concerns described in the police material included:

• dispatchers being inundated with 911 calls, including calls from people trapped inside the building who had long conversations to help pinpoint the gunman’s location, and fears that valuable information was lost when some callers never got an answer or were switched to recordings;
• police broadcast search information on open radio channels that they feared might help a gunman with the right scanner, and concern that the sound of the belt radios of approaching officers could have tipped him to their movements;
• Hendron’s rifle and shotgun being more firepower than many of the pursuing officers had, with Chief Dan Isom expressing a desire to see larger-caliber rifles in patrol cars but noting budget limits;
• locked exterior doors being hard to breach, requiring officers to obtain pass cards from fleeing workers, with Isom expressing a desire to buy forcible entry tools for each district.

A 150-page report was delivered to the Board of Police Commissioners on Tuesday, and the report material included an interview with Chief Dan Isom providing the fullest telling of bravery and frustration in the face of one of the biggest challenges the department ever faced.

"I don't think people recognize how much courage that takes to go into a building when you don't know where the suspect is," Isom said Tuesday.
"I'm proud of the report as well as our response afterward to do some things immediately to improve."

Arrest

No arrest occurred because Timothy Hendron killed himself before police arrived.

Trial

No trial information appeared in the provided case record.

Sentencing

No sentencing information appeared in the provided case record.

Appeals

No appeal information appeared in the provided case record.

Outcome

Timothy Hendron was identified by police as the shooter. He killed himself before police arrived.

The following were killed in the shooting:

• Carlton Carter, 57
• Terry Mabry, 55
• Cory Wilson, 27

Five people were injured in the incident, including two in critical condition.

Two more were in fair condition, and the fifth person injured had been admitted to a hospital and released.

In the police material describing the response, it was stated that it was 2½ hours before Hendron was found sitting dead in an office chair, with a pistol at his feet and a self-inflicted gunshot wound under his chin. Cautious bomb squad officers searched his body and car outside with a robot in case he left booby traps. It was also stated that he had worn earplugs.

Aftermath

ABB released a statement mourning the deaths of its employees, including a quote from its CEO, Joe Hogan.

"I am deeply saddened by this news and would like to express my greatest sympathy to those who have been touched by this tragedy."

Police Capt. Michael Sack said Kathleen Hendron, the shooter's wife, told police her husband had been “ostracized” at ABB for trying to start a union and for participating in a lawsuit against ABB over its pension plan.

Sack said Kathleen Hendron told police her husband was worried about his impending performance as a witness in a case in Kansas City four days later.

The morning of the shooting, Hendron left a Post-It note on their refrigerator at home in Webster Groves. It read, "I love you both," and it was described as a common gesture toward her and their teenage son.

Sack said:

"The one question we were hoping to answer was why. He left no notes. He confided in no one. ... We don't know why he did it, but the end result is that he did."

In the police material, Stephen Sharp II was described as going to his truck to retrieve his .380-caliber Walther PPKS pistol, firing all six shots trying to hit the gunman but not succeeding, and himself being seriously wounded.

The police material also described multiple employees saying Hendron had been a sociable, joking man who turned sullen over the previous year, including after the shift he supervised was eliminated, sending him back to an administrative job in which he hated his boss, then back to ordinary labor. Some said he was passed over as supervisor when the shift was restored.

The police material described Kevin Podolski as a co-worker and self-described close friend who told police:

• Hendron “kept to himself and was prone to outbursts of anger.”
• Podolski also advised that he had believed for a long time that Timothy H. was capable of doing something like this.

Rick Lawrence, a company supervisor, told investigators that Hendron “seemed disgruntled and agitated much of the time.”

Investigators determined that Hendron bought the .45-caliber and .40-caliber pistols in 2008 and bought the 12-gauge pump shotgun and rifle in separate stores, in Hazelwood and Fenton, the day before the attack.

It was stated that at least two of the dead were particular targets. The storage room where Hendron’s boss, Cory Wilson, 27, of Collinsville, tried to hide was described as riddled with bullets.

One witness said Hendron bent down near the face of the mortally wounded Terry Mabry, 55, of Moscow Mills, and screamed as he fired some more.

The police material also described Carlton J. Carter, 57, of St. Louis, as the man dead in his car.

In the incident, Hendron was described as shooting not only at people in the plant but also at the cars of some as they fled, and as firing at strangers in some cases.

Other details

Weapons described

• AK-47-styled assault rifle
• Hi-Point handguns (at least two)
• pump-action shotgun
• rifle
• hundreds of rounds of ammunition
• additional handgun found near a guard shack
• .380-caliber Walther PPKS pistol (retrieved by Stephen Sharp II)

Response descriptions and quotes

Lt. Alana Hauck, one of the first officers on the scene, recalled hearing gunshots at North Patrol headquarters near the plant, stating:

"I will never forget as I'm driving there, I am hearing gunshots,"

Hauck described forming a team of about a half dozen young officers and telling them:

"We're going to go in."

She described receiving a warning:

"You stay here, ma'am, you could get shot,"

She said:

"I'm not the type that can sit out, and I would never forgive myself if I didn't go in and one of them was injured,"

She stated:

"The heroics of the officers was just amazing,"

She described the emotional experience of returning home:

"You're pumped up on adrenaline the entire time and focused on getting to the shooter, don't think of anything else. I got home, and my 4-year-old daughter comes and gives me hug. ... That's when it hits you, This guy had a high-powered rifle, the worst could have happened, and I could've never got that hug."

Jeff Ray was quoted as telling detectives: "We should have seen it coming."

ABB facility and scale description

The ABB complex was described in police material as a 764,000-square-foot structure where ABB makes transformers for power companies.