By JOHN NOLAN, The Associated Press
WEST CHESTER, Ohio (AP) -- A trucker accused of opening fire on employees of a company he once worked for had been harassed by other drivers and workers from the business, the man’s father said Friday.
Two men were killed and three were wounded in the attack Thursday morning at Watkins Motor Lines Inc. in suburban Cincinnati. Tom West, 50, also known as Joseph Eschenbrenner III, was arrested in Indiana and charged with two counts of aggravated murder and three counts of attempted murder in the shooting.
“There were a series of things going on that were driving Joey crazy and he blamed Watkins people for it,” Joseph Eschenbrenner Jr. said from his home in Rolling Meadows, Ill., a Chicago suburb.
West’s father said his son complained that while he worked at Watkins horns and alarms would go off on his truck with no explanation. His son has suffered physical problems since he left Watkins and blamed the company for his ailments, his father said. He would not elaborate.
The company issued a statement that said West worked for Watkins out of Atlanta from October 1998 until he resigned in November 2001. The company did not say why he left. Company officials refused further comment Friday.
“He was firmly convinced that he was the most important driver they had in their fleet,” his father said.
Eschenbrenner said he last spoke to his son about three years ago. He had received a note since then talking about a variety of problems his son was having after he left the company.
An overnight search West’s van found two guns police believe he fired at least 12 times Thursday morning in the dispatch office of Watkins Motor Lines Inc., West Chester Police Chief John Bruce said Friday. Tests will try to match shell casings found at the company with the .25-caliber and .40-caliber handguns and ammunition from the van, he said.
The gunman drove past security guards without stopping at the company’s entry gate, strode into the office and opened fire _ apparently without singling out any specific target, Bruce said.
Police declined to discuss West’s motive. Bruce said the employees didn’t appear to know West.
Butler County prosecutors said they expected to seek the death penalty.
West was arrested a little over two hours after the attack while eating at a truck stop along Interstate 74 near New Point, Ind. He waived extradition, and police brought him and his van to West Chester.
West was held Friday without bond at the Butler County Jail in Hamilton. A hearing to set bond and appoint an attorney was scheduled for Friday afternoon in Butler County Area II Court in Hamilton.
West said nothing as officers escorted him into the police station Thursday and reporters shouted questions at him.
When the shooting occurred, most employees were in a separate warehouse with loading docks where dozens of trucks were parked.
Donald Haury, 50, of Bellbrook, died at the company, and Bob Lines, 65, of Cincinnati, was pronounced dead later at a hospital, Bruce said.
Lines’ 44-year-old son, Randy, said his father worked at Watkins for 12 years. He wasn’t sure whether his father knew the gunman.
Two of the injured men were hospitalized with chest wounds Friday, one in serious condition and the other in fair condition, said Bethesda Hospital North spokesman Joe Kelley.
Billy Claywell, 48, said he returned to his home in Cave City, Ky., after he was treated for a gunshot wound in the upper right side of his back.
Claywell said he didn’t know the gunman and must have been a random victim. “It was just one of those things.”
The West Chester company employs 313 people, but police did not know how many were there Thursday morning. Watkins Motor Lines, based in Lakeland, Fla., transports freight from multiple customers and employs more than 12,000 people at 132 locations.