Preventing Workplace Shootings Means Planning for Them, Expert Says

Half Moon Bay, CA (WorkersCompensation.com) – Protecting employees from workplace violence means making a plan for it and watching out for warning signs, a security expert says.  

In light of two workplace shootings in California last week, Oscar Villanueva, a managing director with R3 Continuum, said preventing those kinds of mass casualty events starts with workplace violence policies. 

On Jan. 21, Huu Can Tran, 72, allegedly entered Star Ballroom Dance Studio in Monterey Park, Calif., and shot 10 people, including the manager, and injured at least 10 more, one of whom later died. Tran allegedly then drove to the Lai Lai Dance Hall and attempted to shoot more people, but was stopped by a civilian who wrestled him to the ground and took his gun away.  

Just three days later, Chenli Zhao, 66, a worker at California Terra Gardens in Half Moon Bay, Cal., shot and killed four employees and wounded another, before driving to hos former workplace Concord Farms where he shot and killed three other employees. Zhao admitted to the killings, telling investigators that he went into a rage over a supervisor insisting that he owed $100 for damages to company equipment that Zhao said was caused by another employee.  

A report released by the U.S. Secret Service on Jan. 25 looked at 173 mass casualty events between 2016 and 2020, and found that perpetrators share some commonalities.  

The report found that most attackers exhibited behavior that concerned those around them before the incidents and that the attackers had a history of physically aggressive or intimidating behavior. Half of the attackers, the report said, were motivated by grievances, and said the attacks were retaliation for perceived wrongs related to personal, domestic or workplace issues.  

Many of the attackers had stressful events happen to them prior to the attack, the report said. Those events were significant life issues like bankruptcy, divorce, an arrest for domestic violence, being fired or being disciplined at work.  

Over half the attackers experienced mental health symptoms prior to the attacks, including depression, psychotic symptoms and suicidal thoughts. Around one in four attackers subscribed to hateful ideologies or conspiracy theories, the report found.   

Villanueva said companies looking to prevent workplace violence should start with a workplace violence policy.  

“There's about 80 percent of businesses and organizations out there have absolutely no workplace violence program,” he said. “In other words, they have nothing to prevent, mitigate identify or find this kind of behavior. And if you have never received workplace violence awareness training, if you have never been exposed to this and your company is not really doing anything proactively about it, it’s really difficult for employees to identify that behavior in others.” 

That plan should also create a “See something, say something” culture and clearly outline how violent behavior will be dealt with.  

“One of the single most important things to do is when somebody is being terminated or when someone is having discipline taken against them, it’s important to create a plan, do it gently, do it thoughtfully and treat people with dignity and respect,” he said. “That usually results in someone not holding grudges against the company or against any one individual.” 

Villanueva said he recommends employers keep an eye out for five things – a history of violent behavior (like past arrests for domestic violence or violent outbursts at work); an obsession with weapons; a change in behavior such as becoming angrier; stresses in their life and an increase in grievances.  

“It's really a combination of things,” he said. “Someone who likes weapons doesn't mean that they're going to engage in workplace violence and someone who has grievances against the company, that’s not necessarily result in a workplace violence issue, but when you look at the warning signs someone may be exhibiting and put it all together, it paints a picture that may point toward a potential threat.”  

Villanueva said companies should also form a threat management team that would handle investigations and determine how to manage a threat situation.  

“If an employee comes to a manager and reports something, pay attention to that. Because if you don't pay attention to that the first time, that employee is likely to never come back if you ignore them or if you don't do anything about it,” he said. 

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