Investigators are still trying to determine why a longtime warehouse employee fatally shot two co-workers at a Roundy’s Wisconsin distribution center late Tuesday before turning the gun on himself following a police chase.
In a news conference on Thursday, Oconomowoc Police Chief James Pfister said his officers were dispatched around 10:30 p.m. on Tuesday to the Roundy’s distribution center.
Officers located two victims — Kevin Kloth, 51, of Germantown, Wisconsin, and Kevin Schneider, 39, of Milwaukee — who were fatally shot but found in different locations in Roundy’s massive 1.2 million-square-foot distribution center in Oconomowoc.
“Life support measures were initiated but unsuccessful,” Pfister said.
The suspect, Fraron Cornelius, 41, of Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, was later pronounced dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound early Wednesday after he crashed his vehicle following a police chase in Milwaukee, which is around 30 miles from the Roundy’s facility.
All three men had worked at the distribution center, which has over 800 employees, for more than 20 years and were members of the Teamsters Local Union No. 200, according to a union representative.
Cornelius had worked at Roundy’s the longest — 23 years.
“No motive for this incident is known at this time,” Pfister said during the press conference.
Waukesha County Sheriff Eric Severson said that as many as 100 law enforcement officers from his department assisted the Oconomowoc police to secure the scene at the warehouse.
“Right now our major role is providing resources and working in cooperation with the Oconomowoc Police Department to determine motive,” Severson said. “In these kinds of situations, we all want to know the answer to the question: Why? It’s important to the families, it’s important to Roundy’s employees, it’s important to the community, it’s important to us to find answers as to why something like this happens.”
Roundy’s, founded in 1872, is a subsidiary of Kroger (NYSE:KR), headquartered in Cincinnati. Roundy’s operates over 150 retail grocery stores under the Pick ’n Save, Copps, Metro Market and Mariano’s retail banners in Wisconsin and Illinois, according to the company’s website.
This is a developing story.
Read more articles by FreightWaves Senior Editor Clarissa Hawes.
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