Workplace violence is fairly common in today’s world, and often, innocent people are hurt or killed in such episodes. Sometimes, however, employees who are armed and trained in using their firearms can turn the tables in workplace violence situations.
Such was apparently the case at a Greenfield, Indiana, Amazon Distribution Warehouse on December 13 as the buys warehouse prepared Christmas orders. Police responded to a call of a shooting at the property in the early morning hours and arrived to find 39-year-old Isaac Riley dead of a gunshot wound.
According to a report in the Daily Reporter, some kind of a dispute occurred between Riley and the unidentified employee who shot him.
“We do know they were both employees who were getting to work, and there was some type of an interaction between them, we’re assuming a disagreement of some kind, but we are waiting for the detectives to finish up everything,” Police Capt. Robert Harris of the Hancock County Sheriff’s Office told the newspaper.
Prosecutor Brent Eaton told the Daily Reporter that the deceased and the shooter did not know each other but came into contact with each other just before the shooting. According to those reports, Riley confronted the shooter inside the Amazon facility and threatened to cause physical harm to him. Witnesses say the man attempted to de-escalate the situation and left the building.
He was waiting outside in the parking lot for a ride so he could leave the area when Riley again approached him and “made additional aggressive remarks and furtive movements while closing in on the shooter in an aggressive manner.” Witnesses said that’s when the man drew his concealed firearm and shot Riley.
Capt. Harris said that at this time, his agency is not recommending any charges be filed against the shooter. However, he said that could change following further investigation.
Prosecutor Brent Eaton, the person in charge of the final determination of whether charges are filed or not, reiterated Harris’ assertion that the shooting was self-defense.
“At this time, the evidence does not give us a crime that can be successfully prosecuted,” Eaton told the Daily Reporter.
Amazon spokesperson Austin Stowe told the newspaper that the plant had been closed after the shooting out of an abundance of caution.
“We are deeply saddened by this incident, and our thoughts are with their loved ones during this difficult time,” Stowe said in a press release. “We’re working closely with law enforcement while they investigate this incident.”
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