Edgewater Technology Shooting Leaves 7 Dead

Strategic Insights -

Seven people lost their lives in a shooting rampage at Edgewater Technology in Massachusetts, where 42-year-old employee Michael McDermott allegedly opened fire on his co-workers. According to investigators, McDermott had been employed by the company for a year as an engineer, and showed up for work as usual on Tuesday morning before allegedly starting to fire at his colleagues with a semiautomatic AK-47 rifle and a 12-gauge shotgun. The motive behind the massacre is still unclear, but authorities are investigating a possible connection to the company's plan to garnish McDermott's wages to cover unpaid federal taxes.

Key Takeaways:

  • The shooting occurred at Edgewater Technology, an Internet development consulting company in Massachusetts, where 7 people were killed.
  • The alleged gunman, Michael McDermott, was a 42-year-old employee who had worked for the company for about a year as an engineer testing new software.
  • McDermott allegedly fired at his co-workers with a semiautomatic AK-47 rifle and a 12-gauge shotgun, and was also carrying a loaded semiautomatic pistol, although it's unclear if he fired it.
  • Three of the victims were men, and four were women, with the majority of those killed coming from the accounting department.
  • Middlesex DA Martha Coakley says McDermott may have been upset because the company was about to start garnishing his wages to cover unpaid federal taxes.
  • Edgewater Technology is considered to be in strong financial health, with sales growing by 20 percent to $1.2 billion last year.
  • The company employs about 150 people at its Wakefield, Massachusetts, headquarters, but almost half of those employees were not at work due to the extended Christmas holiday.
  • Investigators spent the day gathering clues, but many questions remain unanswered.
  • A co-worker, Mike Stanley, says there seemed to be no pattern to who was killed, and none of the dead were McDermott's direct supervisors.
  • McDermott was arrested in the lobby and offered no resistance to being taken into custody.

Statistics:

  • 7 people lost their lives in the shooting.
  • 42-year-old Michael McDermott is the alleged gunman.
  • McDermott had been employed by Edgewater Technology for about a year.
  • The company's sales grew by 20 percent to $1.2 billion last year.
  • Edgewater employs about 150 people at its Wakefield, Massachusetts, headquarters.
  • 50% of employees were not at work due to the extended Christmas holiday.
  • 3 victims were men and 4 were women.
  • The majority of those killed came from the accounting department.

Sources:

  • NPR News
  • Member station WBUR in Boston
  • Middlesex County district attorney Martha Coakley
  • Edgewater Technology