Thread: KY-4 factory shooting victims to be buried in Mexico

4 factory shooting victims to be buried in Mexico
By Jason Riley • jriley@courier-journal.com • June 26, 2008

SEBREE, Ky -- The bodies of four Atlantis Plastics shooting victims will be sent back to Mexico for burial, according to Tomblinson Funeral home in Sebree.

The visitation for the four Hispanic victims will be Friday, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., at Tomblinson.

Another visitation will be held Saturday from noon to 5 p.m at Tomblinson.

The funerals will be held at the Holy Name Catholic Church in Henderson at 6 p.m. Saturday. The victims are Trisha Mirelez, 25, Rachael Vasquez, 26, and Joshua Hinojosa, 28, all of Sebree; and Israel Monroy, 29, of Henderson.

Family members of the victims have been filing into the funeral home all day, meeting with the Rev. Jason McClure, pastor at St. Michael's Catholic Church in Sebree, which the four victims attended.

Several family members declined to comment, saying they were too upset to talk.

Some local businesses in Sebree, which has a Hispanic population estimated as high as 800 in the town of 1,800, are collecting donations for the victims. A local bank, Independence Bank, is also taking donations.

"Everyone is saddened by this," said Sebree Mayor Ron Todd. "There's a lot of people really upset right now."

Reporter Jason Riley can be reached at (502) 582-4727.

http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbc ... /306260014

Five Victims at the hand of Madness

A 25-year-old man armed with a handgun shot six co-workers at a western Kentucky plastics plant, killing five, before taking his own life.

Wesley Neal Higdon opened fire early today following an argument with a supervisor at the Atlantis Plastics Inc. factory in Henderson, the Ohio River town's police force said in a statement.

``The cause behind this incident is unknown; however, the suspect is known to have gotten into an argument with a supervisor earlier in the evening,'' according to the police force's statement.

``After this argument, the suspect left the building for his regular break,'' said the statement. ``When he returned, he had the handgun with him.''

Police said Trisha Mirelez, 25, and the gunman were pronounced dead at the scene. Kevin G. Taylor, 30, and Rachael Vasquez, 26, died at Methodist Hospital in Henderson. Joshua Hinojosa, 28, and Israel Monroy, 29, died at hospitals in Evansville, Indiana.

Noelia Monroy, 22, suffered multiple gunshot wounds and is in stable condition at St. Mary's Hospital in Evansville, the statement said.
Atlantis Plastics Chief Executive Officer Bud Philbrook told the Associated Press the killings were a ``total shock.''

http://respectance.com/Atlantis_Plastic ... ims/photos

Something obviously set him off. Were his hours being cut? Was he going to lose his job? Were illegal aliens replacing American workers at this place?

im betting he was about to be fired cuz he made a wage and the illegals were willing to work for less and he had had enough of the crapola from the boss in regard to this

Well I guess thats what you call being deported the " hard way ".

According to this article, the argument with his supervisor had to do with the guy not wearing safety equipment and using his cell while he was on the line working.

Also, he was involved with a Latina with whom he had a child so it doesn't seem like this was a racially motivated crime.



By Bob Gwaltney (AP)
Published: 2008-06-26 09:40:02
Location: HENDERSON, Ky.

It was swift and chaotic, witnesses said, as the plastics plant worker with a determined look opened fire, killing five co-workers then himself in rural western Kentucky.

Police said Wesley N. Higdon, 25, shot his supervisor outside the plant, then went inside and kept shooting. When the gunfire ended, one of Higdon's co-workers was dead, four others were dying and he had committed suicide.

A witness who hid behind a wall when the gunfire started said a bullet struck a water line, spraying water all over the plant.

"When I heard the gunshots, I thought it was something electrical," said plant worker Mark Singery. "When I peeked back out, I saw (him) lying there dead."

The facility closed for most of the day but reopened for limited production Wednesday night, plant manager Dean Jorgensen said Thursday.

The shooting occurred hours after an argument between Higdon and his supervisor over his not wearing safety goggles and using his cell phone while on the assembly line, police said. Higdon, 25, of Henderson, was so riled by the argument that he called his girlfriend and told her that he wanted to kill his boss, according to police.

The girlfriend didn't warn anyone, police said, and just two hours later he argued with another co-worker at a gas station near the plant, then returned and shot and killed his supervisor as they walked outside. He went back inside and shot at co-workers in a break room and on the plant floor.

"He just walked in, looked like he meant business and started shooting at everybody," Henderson Police Sgt. John Nevels said at a news conference.

Authorities said Higdon was known to keep a .45-caliber pistol in his car, which is not illegal in Kentucky.

Higdon's girlfriend, Teresa Solano Ventura, said through an interpreter that she was not aware that Higdon carried a gun in his car, The Gleaner of Henderson reported. She also said Higdon had threatened to kill himself, not his supervisor.

"He said to her that he was going to kill himself," Abby Valasquez told the newspaper, translating for her cousin, who does not speak English well.

Ventura described Higdon, with whom she has a 7-month-old son, as generous and "a good person," the newspaper said.

One worker was injured and was being treated in the critical care unit at St. Mary's Hospital and Medical Center in Evansville, Ind.

The killings stunned the Ohio River town of about 28,000 people, where a local leader said many residents know or are related to a worker at the plant. The plant, operated by Atlanta-based Atlantis Plastics, employs about 160 people and makes parts for refrigerators and plastic siding for homes.

At a prayer service Wednesday night, residents gathered to mourn the victims, some weeping softly and carrying roses.

"Our whole community is in shock," Henderson County Judge-Executive Sandy Watkins said.

Henderson County Coroner Bruce Farmer identified the supervisor as Kevin G. Taylor, 30, of Dixon. The slain co-workers were Trisha Mirelez, 25, Rachael Vasquez, 26, and Joshua Hinojosa, 28, all of Sebree; and Israel Monroy, 29, of Henderson. The hospitalized survivor was identified as Monroy's sister, Noelia Monroy.

Investigators were trying to piece together the timing of the shooting spree. Philbrook said Higdon didn't appear to have any previous disciplinary problems at the plant.

Four of the victims were members of St. Michael's Catholic Church in Sebree, Ky., said the Rev. Jason McClure, who had spent much of the morning with the victims' families.

"They are very upset and hurting deeply and just trying to figure out what to do next," McClure said.

___

Associated Press writers Harry R. Weber in Atlanta and Bruce Schreiner and Rebecca Yonker in Louisville contributed to this report.


www.southernledger.com/ap/Witnesses_des ... _Ky._plant - 49k -