By Ann-Marie Adams, Staff Writer

AREAWIDE – Before Omar Thornton allegedly shot eight people in a Manchester warehouse and turned the gun on himself Tuesday, he called his friend Latroy Dale last week. They spoke for two hours.

Dale is the friend who helped Thornton, 34, get that truck driver’s job at the Manchester-based Hartford Distributors, Inc. about two years ago. In 2000, both men entered driving school for their D & L license. When Dale dropped out of the program, Thornton continued on and received his license. When Thornton applied for the job, he already knew how to drive a truck, friends say.

“They had him in that warehouse for about a year and a half, talking about he was slow. They said he wasn’t ready,” James Dale Sr. said in front of his Bloomfield home. Dale Sr. said he spoke to his son Latroy, 30, yesterday. “Omar made about eight or nine complaints to those people…. Omar let it got to him, and he snapped.”

Dale Sr. also said his son is “all choked up” about Tuesday’s tragedy that left families mourning an “unspeakable loss” on both sides.

The Aug. 3 rampage at Hartford Distributors is the state’s deadliest workplace shooting since the Newington-based Connecticut Lottery Corporation shooting on March 6, 1998, when accountant Matthew Beck, 35, killed four lottery officials before committing suicide.

Thornton’s brother Edward Kinder, 38, theorized that something  pushed Thornton to kill those people and then kill himself.

“He’s been dealing with it for two to three years,” Kinder said before he entered his mother’s apartment building in East Hartford today, “They called him porch monkey…nigger…all kinds of names.”

Watch Video

Family members, friends and causal acquaintances of Thornton are still in stupor after learning Thornton shot eight of his co-workers and reportedly committed suicide. They still don’t believe he shot himself. They still don’t believe he stole a case of beer. And they still have questions, they said.

“Why would he put up with that for so long and then stole a case of beer?  He doesn’t even drink,” said Hartford resident, Lou Daniels, 51.

Daniels is a store clerk at a gas station on Cottage Grove Road in Bloomfield. He said he saw Thornton about two months ago when he came in to grab a hot dog and a soda. Thornton, Daniels said, would make references to the prejudice on his job.

“I told him it was every where; some places are more overt than others,” Daniels said. “He was  such a low-key kind of a person. He was quiet. I think something drove him to that point.”

Teamsters Local 1035 officials said Thornton, a union member, was a disgruntled employee who was “cold as ice.” In an official statement released on Tuesday, they said Thornton filed no complaints about racism on the job. On Wednesday, however, a Teamsters’ spokesman said there was one complaint about a year ago and it was “taken care of right away.”

Also in a press conference on Wednesday, Hartford Distributor’s Marketing Director Brett Hollander said company supervisors caught on tape Thornton stealing beer and asked him to resign. According to Hollander and other company officials, Thornton agreed to resign. Soon after the 7: 00 a.m. disciplinary meeting, Thornton asked for a drink of water and then scuttled off to the kitchen area, where “he must have had a gun.” Minutes later, Thornton appeared and opened fire on President of Teamsters Local 1035 Bryan Cirigliano, 51. Cirigliano was at this meeting as Thornton’s union representative, Secretary Treasurer of Teamsters Local 1035 Christopher Woos said in a statement. Other shootings followed. Company officials said there were about 70 employees at the beer warehouse that morning.

Other victims now dead are Doug Scruton, 56; Bill Ackerman, 51; Francis Fazio Jr., 57; Edwin Kennison, 49; Craig Pepin, 60; and Victor James, 60. Jerome Rosenstein, 77, was in serious condition Wednesday at Hartford Hospital after being wounded.

“It appeared that the first few were targeted,” said Lt. Chris Davis of the Manchester Police Department. “None of them are African Americans.”

Profiles of Victims

Police also said Thornton called his mother shortly after the shooting and said: “I shot the racist bastards.”

Thornton’s mother’s sister Gail Pierson flew up from South Carolina yesterday to “just be with her sister,” Nelle Holliday.

“She’s hurting, too,” Pierson said in a telephone interview. “She lost a son.”

Police Tapes About Shooting at Hartford Distributors

Hartford’s first black mayor and former president of the Greater Hartford branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People said he also had questions about events that led up to the tragedy.

“Both allegations could be true. We don’t know. He’s dead. But I don’t think the young man would’ve made up those kinds of allegations. …He probably didn’t know he could turn to organizations to file his complaint.”

Milner expressed concern for the victims but said there were also other concerns.

“I’m more concerned when looking at the TV and seeing the employees coming out. I didn’t see one minority,” Milner said. “I know Steve Hollander is a good and fair person, but that doesn’t have anything to do with it…. I think it’s worthwhile looking into how many minority co-workers are at the company. “

Milner said Thornton probably didn’t know he could reach out to organizations such as a state agency or the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, where employees can file a charge of discrimination.

Carrie Saxon-Perry is a former mayor of Hartford and now the president of the local NAACP chapter. She said she’s been fielding calls from many asking her what the NAACP will do.

“We will be looking into it and asking questions,” Perry said. “Right now we don’t have anything to say. We need to know what happened.”

Dale Sr. said people keep calling his son, too, and they keep asking him what happened.

“Why do they keep asking that? Everybody who is black knows what happened,” he said, especially when we found out Omar was the only black one there.”

But Teamsters Local officials disputed that claim.

“During the time that Thornton was represented by Local 1035, he reported no concerns about racial discrimination to the union,” Roos said in an official statement Aug. 3.

Lt. Davis said today there is no written incident report yet because police are still investigating.

Related Stories:

MASS MURDER: At least 9 dead in shooting at Hartford Distributors in Manchester

Workplace Violence: Remembering the CT Lottery Headquarters Shooting

Gunman Kills 12, Wounds 31 at Fort Hood

HARTFORD — Democratic candidate for governor, Dannel Malloy was scheduled to stop by Hartford’s North End Senior Center on Coventry Road today to “meet with seniors and share his plans for supporting our elderly population as Governor.”

He didn’t.

When told of the news by a reporter, the director of the center, Karen Bailey Addison, said:

“Really? I’m suprised. No one told me about that visit,” she said. “And I don’t like being blindsided like that.”

Malloy was scheduled to be at the center at 12: 15 p.m. after a stop at a senior center in East Hartford, according to an advisory. One other reporter from The Hartford Courant showed up the North End Senior center as well, only to be given the news: there was no Dan Malloy.

” I’m really disappointed,’ said Doc Hurley, who was sitting in the lobby socializing. “Tell him he missed a very important crowd.”

Malloy’s campaign scheduler said the North End was never on the list slated for the area. It was an error in communication, said Michael Mandell, Malloy’s scheduler.

“We wouldn’t want to show up without contacting the center first,” he said.

EAST HARTFORD — A Hartford woman reported missing last week has been found.

Taleshe Smith, 20, who was reported missing by her family, was found in East Hartford. Smith, who was last seen on July 15, is alive, police said.

ast seen on July 15.

Smith reportedly was known to frequent the Northend of Hartford specifically the area of 105 and 161 Kent St., police said.

Police also said  Smith is intellectually disabled.

HARTFORD – Victims of Domestic Violence now have three more laws to ensure  support and safety from their predators.

Flanked by domestic abuse victim advocates at the Connecticut Coalition on Domestic Violence office in East Hartford, Gov. M. Jodi Rell  signed three bills into law to “create broader protections for victims of domestic violence.” 

These laws, the governor said,  inlcude electronic monitoring of violent offenders and greater awareness of teen dating violence, sweeping reforms the  said will help prevent abuse and provide support and safety for victims in the “darkest moments.”

The centerpiece of the reforms is House Bill 5497, An Act Concerning the Recommendations of the Speaker of the House of Representatives’ Task Force on Domestic Violence, which addresses numerous programs in criminal justice, social services and education.  The legislation resulted from a bipartisan task force formed by Speaker of the House Christopher Donovan. 

The law includes a pilot program in which the high-risk offenders are electronically monitored and requires the Judicial Branch to apply for federal grants to fund the program. It also expands information and disclosure requirements for family intervention units, courts and the Department of Children and Families and allows the Chief Court Administrator to establish domestic violence dockets in three geographical areas. In addition, it expands the persistent offender law for crimes involving assault, trespass, threatening, harassment and violation of restraining or protective order and allows courts to consider the convictions for essentially the same crimes in other states. All provisions take effect Oct. 1,  with the exception of the electronic monitoring funding, which is effective upon passage.

The Governor also signed House Bill 5246, An Act Concerning the Protection of and Services for Victims of Domestic Violence. The law makes it easier for tenants who are victims of family violence to terminate their rental agreement without penalty, creates a public service awareness campaign to prevent teen dating violence and mandates the state Department of Social Services to make payments from marriage license surcharges to domestic violence shelters. This will be effective Oct. 1, except for marriage license surcharge funds and public service campaign, which are effective July 1.

House Bill 5315, An Act Concerning Education and the Reduction of Domestic Violence. The law requires school boards to offer training on preventing teen dating violence to employees as part of the health education information they must provide.  This bill will was effective on July 1.

Rell said the state has already dedicated more than $2 million in federal stimulus funds over the last year for a variety of domestic violence programs. Most recently, the state awarded $140,000 in stimulus funds to the Judicial Branch to start a GPS monitoring program for domestic violence offenders in Bridgeport, Danielson and Hartford.  The funds will be used to purchase the monitoring service plus some equipment for a minimum of 21 high risk offenders.  The offenders will be identified by the Courts.

HARTFORD – Hockey might be coming back  to Hartford.

A former Whalers owner Howard Baldwin is reportedly trying  to lure a National Hockey League  franchise back to the city of Hartford and has scheduled a press conference for today at Rentschler Field in East Hartford.

Baldwin is expected to outline plans to attract business from an  outdoor hockey and skating venue.

According to masslive.com, Baldwin’s ‘Whalers Sports Entertainment’ company’s long-term plan involves showcasing hockey in Connecticut for the purpose of one day landing an National Hockey League franchise.

EAST HARTFORD  –  Police arrested a suspect on Wednesday  in a May 6 triple homicide at WoodCliff Estates. 
Horvil “Trix” Lebrick, 31, of Booklyn, New York was arraigned Wednesday on fugitive charges in New York.  He awaits extradition to Connecticut and is expected to be charged with felony murder.

According to report,New York police detectives and police officers surrounded Lebrick’s  home in Brooklyn at   7:30 a.m. Wednesday. And he surrendered without incident.

EAST HARTFORD — The three-year old who fell from a third-story windown on Saturday died today, police said.

The  boy reportedly  pushed a screen from a window in an apartment at Woodcliff Estates and fell out of the window.

Police are still investigating.