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Cincinnati.com
First Published Dec 15, 1995 Last updated: 11/6/03 3:47:33 PM
This is not the first time the Tri-state has experienced the devastation of workplace violence.
On December 15, 1995, three people were killed when an employee opened fire at the Transcontinental Systems Trucking Company in Evendale.
Gerald Clemons was convicted of three counts of aggravated murder and was sentenced to death. He is currently confined at the Mansfield Correctional Institution.
The victims included David Kreamelmeyer, 40, of North College Hill, Robert Kinney, 40, of Amelia and Christina Teetzel, 30, of Lebanon.
Clemons claimed a “Prozac” defense and said he had felt slighted at work.
Four months later, on April 3, 1996, one person was wounded when a former employee of Towne Taxi in Roselawn opened fire inside the office.
Dispatcher Bill McCoy has since recovered from injuries sustained in the incident.
Al Weichman had been fired by the company and was sentenced to prison time.
Trucking Employee Kills 3 In Shooting at Ohio Company — (NYTimes)
Associated Press
Published: December 16, 1995
EVENDALE, Ohio, Dec. 15— A truck driver walked into his employer’s office this morning, shot three people to death and then calmly waited to be arrested, the police said.
Employees at Trans-Continental Systems Inc. hid under their desks or ran screaming from the building as the gunman, carrying two pistols, opened fire.
After the shooting, the man, Gerald Clemons, 53, of Cincinnati, walked out of the two-story building and surrendered to the first police officer to arrive, witnesses said. Mr. Clemons was jailed on charges of murder and attempted murder.
“I saw the man come out and lay the weapons on the back of a car,” Ellis Pullins told The Cincinnati Post, “and then he just leaned against the car real relaxed and waited for the police to come.
Wilma Horstman, a clerk at a business across the street, said of Mr. Clemons: “He made no bones whatsoever about going with them. He put his hands behind his back and went.”
The police initially said Mr. Clemons had been fired several months ago from Trans-Continental. But a company lawyer, Lance Cox, said that was not true.
“We don’t know why this happened,” Mr. Cox said late tonight. “We anticipate setting up a fund for the victims’ families. Our thoughts right now are with the victims.”
A police complaint said Mr. Clemons had told a witness that “I’m after the one that screwed me over.” Details about who he may have been going after were not available.
Dave Pace, a vice president at Trans-Continental headquarters in Chicago, refused to comment.
Christina L. Teetzel, 30, of Lebanon, and David Kreamelmeyer Jr., 47, of North College Hill, died at hospitals within two hours of the shooting. Robert Kinney, 40, of Amelia, died about eight hours later. It was not clear whether the charge of attempted murder would be upgraded because of Mr. Kinney’s death.
The company operates 42 tractor-trailer rigs out of Evendale, a suburb of 4,000 people about 10 miles north of Cincinnati.