RAMPAGE IN CONNECTICUT: THE OVERVIEW; Connecticut Lottery Worker Kills 4 Bosses, Then Himself — (New York Times)

Angered about a salary dispute and his failure to win a promotion, a Connecticut Lottery accountant reported promptly to his job this morning, hung up his coat and then methodically stabbed and gunned down four of his bosses, one of whom he chased through a parking lot, before turning the gun on himself.

As the shots rang out through the hallways of the lottery headquarters here in this quiet Hartford suburb, witnesses and the police said, dozens of employees, some yelling, ”Run to the woods,” headed into the brushy hillside surrounding the office while others dived into nearby ditches.

The gunman, Matthew Beck, 35, had walked into the executive offices, stabbed and shot one top official and shot two others — saying ”bye-bye” to one of them — and then chased the State Lottery president, Otho R. Brown, several hundred yards into a parking lot. Mr. Brown, 54, stumbled as he ran, the police said, and just as officers arrived on the scene, they saw Mr. Beck fire a semiautomatic handgun at the executive, killing him immediately.

Within seconds, as two Newington police detectives approached Mr. Beck, he put the gun, a 9-millimeter Glock, to his right temple and shot himself, said John Connelly, the head of the state police.

Angry lottery worker kills 4, self in Connecticut

A medical worker assists an injured man

March 6, 1998   Web posted at: 2:24 p.m. EST (1924 GMT)

State lottery boss among the dead

CNN – A disgruntled Connecticut lottery accountant who recently returned from medical leave gunned down four co-workers Friday before fatally shooting himself, state police said. Among the victims was the state lottery president, who was chased into a parking lot before being shot dead. The gunman, who authorities said had a semiautomatic handgun, was identified as Matthew Beck, 35, of Cromwell, Connecticut, a state lottery employee for more than eight years.The shootings occurred in Newington, about eight miles south of the state capital, Hartford.

Grievance, then medical leave

Beck, an accountant, filed a grievance in August, claiming he had been given a job outside his work classification and not getting paid at a higher level. Proceedings in the case lasted until October when Beck went on medical leave for “job-related stress,” said state Public Safety Commissioner John Connelly.He did not say what the medical problem was. Beck returned to work on February 25.”Yes, he has been troubled,” said Beck’s father, Donald. He did not elaborate.

Names of the victims

The four people killed were:Lottery president Otho BrownLinda Mlynarczyh, the lottery’s chief financial officer and a former one-term mayor of New Britain, Connecticut, when she was better known as Linda BlogoslawskiRick Rubelmann, the lottery’s vice president of operationsMichael Logan, the lottery’s director of information systems”This morning, four devoted public servants were killed … The whole state mourns this unexplained act of violence,” said Gov. John Rowland.

‘She was running for her life’

Beck was in the building working before the shooting started about 8:45 a.m. EST in Logan’s office, Connelly said.Rubelmann and Mlynarczyh were shot next in another area of the executive offices.The gunshots sent panicked lottery employees running. Some sought hiding places inside the building while others fled outside.”She was running for her life,” said a man who received a frantic phone call from a relative inside the building.Brown was among those who scrambled toward nearby woods. He was chased for about 100 yards and stumbled before he was shot. His body was later seen lying in the parking lot, covered by a piece of canvas.Beck shot himself in the head and was pronounced dead at Hartford Hospital at 9:55 a.m. EST, about 15 minutes after he arrived, said hospital spokesman James Battaglio.A 45-year-old man injured as he escaped from the shooter also was taken to Hartford Hospital. He suffered a head injury as he jumped onto a moving vehicle while he was trying to get out of the shooter’s way, Battaglio said.Police used school buses to take lottery employees to the Newington Town Hall.There was no armed security at the building, said Newington police officer Fred Callahan.The Associated Press contributed to this report.