Original article no longer available
The News & Observer
October 12, 2000
Author: From Staff and Wire Reports
Asheville — A Buncombe County furniture maker should have done a better job of trying to prevent a 1998 shooting rampage by an employee that left two workers dead and two others injured, a lawsuit claims.
Larry Wells, who was wounded in the attack at the Drexel Heritage plant in Black Mountain, and the father of Lee Harris, who died, filed the complaint in Buncombe County Superior Court.
The lawsuit claims the company either knew or should have known that Shane Anderson had been diagnosed as suffering from a psychiatric condition and was a threat.
Anderson, 21, of Fairview, was charged with murder and is still awaiting trial. Anderson said several of his co-workers had mistreated him and “something had to be done about it,” according to the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Department.
Anderson’s father has said his son was on antidepressants and had a history of mental illness.
The lawsuit also said the company was aware of other workplace-violence at other Buncombe County factories in the county. A shooting at the Union Butterfield plant in Asheville left three people killed.
Record Number: g2bpfb89