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Today's Safety News

More violence at work: Texan kills two before shooting self

July 25, 2003
A man described as a “wonderful” person to work with by coworkers walked into his Century 21 real estate office in San Antonio on July 23 and shot three women, killing two and critically wounding another, according to the Associated Press.

The shooting occurred the same day a gunman opened fire inside New York City Council chambers, killing a councilman, and five weeks after an employee in a Mississippi factory hunted down fellow workers, killing five and injuring nine before fatally shooting himself.

San Antonio police say Ron G. Thomas shot the victims multiple times, then fled in his SUV before he fatally shot himself with a .357 Magnum three hours later when officers approached, about 135 miles northeast of San Antonio.

Co-workers told AP that Thomas was well-liked and respected at the Century 21 office where he and the victims worked.

Thomas was the liaison between management and trainees at the office, said co-worker Norris Thomas, who is not related to the gunman. “They were all happy with him in that position,” Norris Thomas told AP. “I cannot imagine what made him crack.”

Killed in the attack were Anna Medcalf, 40, and Nancy Scharein, 61. Jane Swanson, 41, remained in critical condition early Thursday at a local hospital.

“Nobody has any reason, why, a clue,” Glenn Vaughn, a friend and spokesman for the Scharein family, told AP. “Nobody can think of anything, an off-the-wall comment, nothing. It caught everyone completely off guard.”

“(Thomas) was wonderful,” real estate agent Herlinda Tucker told AP. “He was the kind of person if you had a problem, you went to him. It is a shock. If you knew him, it’s not anything you could ever imagine.''

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