The gunman who killed five at a Molson Coors plant in Milwaukee was a longtime employee who had reportedly feuded with a co-worker.
The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel identified the gunman as 51-year-old Anthony Ferrill, an electrician who had worked at the Molson Coors facility for the past 17 years. Ferrill frequently argued with at least one co-worker in a dispute that ended with him fatally shooting five people before killing himself on Wednesday.
One co-worker said that Ferrill thought he was being discriminated against at work because he was black. The co-worker also claimed Ferrill would watch movies on his phone while at work, which another electrician took issue with. The pair accused each other of stealing tools from one another’s offices and tampering with their computer equipment.
Ferrill also reportedly believed brewery workers were bugging his computer to spy on him.
“I was: ‘Are you serious, Anthony? What?’ We all kind of joked about it, saying we should maybe get him an aluminum hat. Things just started getting weird, but he was dead serious about it,” the co-worker said.
Other co-workers expressed shock at the news of Ferrill’s rampage. Phillip Rauch Sr., who worked with Ferrill for 15 years before retiring last year, said, “Every time I worked with him, he was always in a good mood.”
“He was a very good electrician, a very good worker, and I couldn’t say anything bad about the guy,” Rauch added.
Another co-worker, Keith Giese, said he was also surprised that Ferrill was the gunman.
“I never had a clue. I talked to him a couple of days ago, and he seemed fine to me,” Giese said. “I had no idea that there was a problem, that somebody could snap like that.”
Police were at Ferrill’s home on Thursday and were seen removing items from the residence as part of the investigation. One neighbor, Erna Roenspies, said that Ferrill was a gun collector who told her that it was his hobby.
“He was like my son,” Roenspies said of Ferrill. “He was a person who would help anyone in the neighborhood. This, it’s a shocker. I still don’t believe it.”
The shooting occurred Wednesday, with officers responding to the sprawling brewery facility at about 2:11 p.m. local time. The Molson Coors plant, formerly Miller Coors, employs hundreds of people and is a mix of corporate offices and brewery facilities.
President Trump addressed the shooting hours after it occurred and extended his “deepest condolences to the victims and families.”
“Earlier today, a wicked murderer opened fire at a Molson Coors brewing company plant, taking the lives of five people,” Trump said. “Our hearts break for them and their loved ones. We send our condolences.”
