Two killed in warehouse rage

Gunman one of the dead; SWAT officer among 5 wounded

John Aguilar, Rocky Mountain News

Published June 26, 2006 at midnight

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An employee who burned and shot his way through a Safeway warehouse Sunday afternoon left one person dead and five injured, including a Denver police officer.

SWAT team members returned fire and killed the gunman while dozens of employees took cover or fled the building.

Employees trapped inside sought refuge in the cavernous building and waited more than hour as officers tracked down the gunman, whom police said set fires throughout the building.

Two of the victims were in critical condition late Sunday at Denver Health Medical Center. Officer Derick Dominguez, 38, was shot in the hip and was in serious condition, as was another man. A fifth victim was treated and released. All the wounded were men.

Police were summoned to the 1.3 million- square-foot Safeway distribution center at 4600 East Stapleton Drive South after employees called 911 shortly after 3 p.m.

Officers in full tactical gear unloaded high-powered weaponry from the trunks of emergency vehicles Sunday afternoon and ran toward the building.

At the western end of the complex, nine police officers huddled behind their squad cars, guns trained on doors and other access points.

Police Chief Gerry Whitman said officers spotted the suspect, wielding a handgun, around 4:20 p.m. He said the man fired at police and wounded Dominguez, a SWAT team member and a member of the force since 1991.

Police returned fire, killing the suspect.

"He fired at us - we fired at him," Whitman said. "It was pretty quick."

Shortly after the final shots were fired, a fleet of emergency vehicles responded to the northwest section of the building.

A victim was rushed into the back of an ambulance, which quickly drove away with one of its rear doors still open and swinging.

Dominguez, whose femur was broken in the shootout, underwent surgery Sunday evening.

At a press conference, Whitman said a man named Michael Ford was the likely suspect in the afternoon rampage, but the chief wouldn't confirm his identity.

Neither would Whitman speculate on a motive for the shootings.

Jeff Stroh, a Safeway spokesman, said the suspect was hired Feb. 15, 2005, and worked in the produce section of the warehouse preparing shipments for individual stores.

Police said 152 people were on duty in the center at the time of the shooting. Two RTD buses were dispatched to the scene Sunday evening, and workers who were not injured were shepherded onto the buses to be interviewed by police.

One employee, Scott Stroman, 35, of Denver, said Sunday was "just a normal day, and suddenly everyone was running out of the building."

Stroman, who said he heard shots in the distance but didn't see the gunman, said co-workers told him, "This guy was shooting everybody at random," and people were diving for cover behind boxes in the huge warehouse.

Marco Abrio, 48, of Denver, a maintenance worker at the facility, said a woman came running from the produce section of the warehouse and said she had just seen two people get shot. He said workers scrambled to escape from the building.

Safeway worker Jesus Lopez said he was about 20 feet away from the gunman. "He was just shooting and lighting fires. He wanted to turn the building on fire," Lopez said. "I just ran. Everybody just ran out."

Denver Fire Chief Larry Trujillo said several fires were set in the building, some of them in large product cases. He said firefighters were delayed in responding to the fires until police could secure the scene.

Spokesman Phil Champagne said stacked paper products were ignited in several areas, creating a hazard for firefighters trying to extinguish the flames.

A group of fire and emergency officials used a firetruck ladder to access the roof of the warehouse, where smoke could be seen pouring out of a metal vent.

Interstate 70 was closed for about 90 minutes and some local roads nearby remained closed Sunday evening.

While the warehouse was closed Sunday night, facility areas not affected by the crime were set to open today, Safeway's Stroh said.

He said the company's grocery distribution was not expected to be affected.

But he emphasized that productivity was not the company's paramount concern.

"Our single concern is with the victims and their family members," Stroh said. Grief counselors will be made available to employees and their families, he said.

Gavino Lucero, a six-year veteran at the warehouse, said he was "shaken up" by the day's events.

He said he was nervous about where police had told him and his colleagues to wait once they had exited the building.

"We were by the (east) door. If he had come out that door, we would have been in the line of fire," he said.

Lucero is not certain he feels safe going back to work at the warehouse - at least not right away.

"I am a little nervous about going back there right now," he said.

aguilarj@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-892-2550.

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