After one of Silicon Valley’s biggest manhunts, the man responsible for an 4 a.m. shooting spree on October 5 at Lehigh Hanson’s Permanente cement plant in Cupertino, Calif., was shot down in a hail of gunfire early on the morning of October 6 in Sunnyvale. According to police reports, the suspected shooter, 47-year-old Shareef Allman, had been attending a safety meeting with more than a dozen co-workers when he is believed to have pulled a gun and began shooting, resulting in the deaths of three co-workers; seven more were treated for gunshot wounds are area hospitals.
Authorities identified the dead as Mark Muñoz, 59, of San Jose; John Vallejos, 51, of San Jose; and Manuel Piñon, 48, of Newman, all employees of Lehigh.
According to the San Jose Mercury News, one of the survivors said Allman believed he was being targeted for being let go from his job after being repeatedly accused of driving recklessly at the quarry. Witnesses said that in addition to the gun Allman pulled from his waistband, he also had left an AK47 just outside the door of the trailer where the safety meeting was taking place. When the shooting ended, Allman drove away in his vehicle, which was found abandoned at 7 a.m. at a local restaurant. One of those injured was a woman whose car Allman reportedly attempted to steal in a nearby parking lot but failed.
With Wednesday’s day-long search for Allman coming up empty, local authorities made a plea for him to surrender peacefully. By the afternoon, police had recovered a shotgun, handgun and two assault rifles, some from Allman’s abandoned car, and additional weapons were found during the 22-hour search following the shooting.
Based in Irving, Texas, Lehigh Hanson issued a statement confirming the Wednesday shooting. “We continue to gather details of what happened, and are working with law enforcement as they conduct their investigation,” said the statement.
“We are shocked and saddened by this morning’s events,” said Lehigh Hanson President and CEO Dan Harrington on Wednesday. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families. I have committed the company’s resources to assist our affected employees during this difficult time.”
Tom Chizmadia, spokesman for the plant, said the company is providing grief counseling, paying wages to all employees as long as the plant is closed and paying for the funerals. “We do not want the families to have any financial burden from this,” he said to the Mercury News.
Hospital officials reported Thursday that at least three of the shooting victims are expected to recover. The female carjacking victim remains in fair condition.
