stem from work-related problems, marital problems, health problems or a combination of all three. In a recent violent incident at the Connecticut State Lottery, the killer, Matthew Beck, was a 35-year-old professional male, frustrated because of a demotion. He returned from a stress-related leave of absence with no indication that he was upset. (Beck had been in negotiations with his union representative about the demotion and a claim for back pay.) Without warning, Beck came to work one morning and systematically gunned down four top lottery officials, including the lottery president. As police closed in, Beck shot himself to death.
Current employees, like Matthew Beck, who go on shooting rampages are perhaps the most difficult workplace violence situation to contain. As an employee, Beck was familiar with the inadequacy of the Lottery's security measures: security guards were present, but were unarmed (Gendar, 1998, p. 2). Beck was able to enter the Lottery facility heavily armed because there were no metal detectors present. Mid-level officials such as Matthew Beck pose a great threat to a security system due to their ability to thwart barriers that impede employees at lower levels of the organization.
The most common form of employee violence is perpetrated not by someone who is currently employed but by someone who has been recently fired. A person fired from his or her job can be likened to a festering wound that worsens as time passes. A series of recent incidents in California followed this pattern. One involved a laid-off worker from a Whittier, California embroidery company who returned to the plant, killed a woman, wounded his old boss, then left the facility and shot himself to death. The worker had been fired several weeks ago and threatened to come back to the facility and kill someone. Unfortunately, his threat was not taken seriously by his co-workers ("Untitled," 1997, p. 1).
In both the lott...