By David E. Hubler
Contributor, EDM Digest
Police in Orlando, Florida, have identified the gunman and the five workers he shot to death Monday morning before killing himself.
John Robert Neumann Jr., armed with a handgun, a large hunting knife and possibly some smaller knives, entered RV awnings manufacturer Fiamma at about 8 a.m. Monday through an unlocked rear door, the Orlando Sentinel reported Tuesday. Neumann was fired from Fiamma in April.
Help Arrived Quickly but Too Late for Victims
Two chaplains, paramedics and an Orange County Fire and Rescue truck arrived within minutes of the attack. Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings said Neumann roamed the building and reloaded his gun at least once, singling out his victims.
Shooting victims Brenda Montanez-Crespo, 44; Kevin Clark, 53; Jeffrey Roberts, 57; Kevin Lawson, 47; and Robert Snyder, 69, were killed. “Most of the victims were shot in the head; some were shot multiple times,” Demings explained to the Sentinel. He noted that eight other people in the building were not injured.
One of the surviving witnesses said Neumann “pointed the gun at her and told her to get out of there,” Demings said.
Shooter Was Involved in Previous Altercation at Work
Demings said the Sheriff’s Office was called to Fiamma about three years ago, when Neumann, then a company employee, allegedly battered a co-worker. No charges were filed at that time. The employee was not among the slain workers.
The shooting occurred a week before the one-year anniversary of the Pulse nightclub massacre in Orlando that killed 49 people. Officials said Monday’s attack was not a terrorist attack. “The situation here appears to be very different from the situation at Pulse,” Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs said.
About the Author
David E. Hubler brings a variety of government, journalism and teaching experience to his position as a Quality Assurance Editor at APUS. David’s professional background includes serving as a senior editor at CIA and the Voice of America. He has also been a managing editor for several business-to-business and business-to-government publishing companies. David has taught high school English in Connecticut and at Northern Virginia Community College. He has a master’s degree for Teachers of English from the University of New Hampshire and a B.A. in English from New York University. David’s 2015 book, “The Nats and the Grays, How Baseball in the Nation’s Capital Survived WWII and Changed the Game Forever,” was recently published in paperback by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.