Seven Dead in Mass. Office Shooting

W A K E F I E L D, Mass., Dec. 26 -- Seven people were killed today when a man armed with a shotgun, a semiautomatic assault rifle, and a semi-automatic pistol opened fire at the corporate headquarters of a Massachusetts Internet consulting firm.

Michael McDermott, 42, an employee of the company, Edgewater Technology, Inc., was arrested in the building lobby and charged with seven counts of murder, police said

Police received numerous emergency calls at 11 a.m. When the shooting broke out, several employees who heard the shots fled the building and took refuge in a store across the street, where they called police.

All seven people killed in the five-to-10 minute attack were employees of Edgewater. Two were killed in the company’s reception area while the other five were gunned down at their work stations, police said. Shell casings and bullets were found all over the office. “There was an enormous amount of firepower,” Coakley said. She said McDermott did not have a permit for any of the weapons he was carrying and had no prior criminal record. Police found McDermott sitting silently in the reception area, abody nearby. Though his weapons were within reach, he was arrested withoutgunfire.

Assistant District Attorney John McEvoy refused to comment on whether the victims were shot at random or whether they were chosen for some reason out of the 70-80 people working in the building at the time. No one else was shot.

The victims were identified as Jennifer Bragg-Capobianco; JaniceHagerty; Louis Javelle; Rose Manfredy; Paul Marceau; CherylTroy; and Craig Wood.

McDermott’s wages were to be garnished after the holidays because he was delinquent in tax payments, said Middlesex District Attorney Martha Coakley, who said the IRS had contacted Edgewater. The garnishment could have been a motive for the shootings, Coakley said.

McDermott had worked at Edgewater since March, said McEvoy.

During an earlier briefing, McEvoy refused to comment on whether a rumor that 25 percent of the company’s staff was going to be laid off triggered the shooting. Company officials said there have not been any layoffs at Edgewater and none are planned any time soon.