What’s the worst thing that can happen at your foundry? That’s the question former Aurora, Illinois Chief of Police Kristen Ziman wants you to think about, again and again. 

Of course, you think about safety every day, and you take precautions to ensure employees go home in the same condition in which they arrived to work. Now, think about another kind of safety. Think about acts of terror that have happened around the country, but also try to think about what hasn’t happened, but could. 

And once you’ve asked that important question and received feedback from your team, the hinge that swings open the possibility for true crisis preparedness is the next question that must follow: Are we ready for it? This exercise is the only way to generate what-if ideas and identify action plans that could one day save lives at your foundry. 

A 30-year veteran in law enforcement, Ziman knows tragedies and emergencies aren’t something HR and management necessarily want to contemplate or even know where to begin, and so it’s easy to put off crisis planning––but taking time to prepare and then regularly revisit your company’s readiness plans for various scenarios will never be something you regret. 

Don’t be beguiled into the mindset of the Thanksgiving turkey, she cautions. The turkey lives 1,000 days with abundant food and leisure; every day delightfully predictable until the 1,001st day, and it’s all over. Just because nothing terrible has ever happened doesn’t mean it never will––the precedence of peaceful sameness should be hoped for but not expected. And where violence is concerned, she said, history is not a predictor of the future. 

Ziman wants you to think about everyone’s worst nightmare: an active shooter in your foundry. That’s exactly what she led her department through on Friday, February 15, 2019. Shortly after 1 p.m., an employee opened fire during his termination meeting, killing five men seated around a conference table: the foundry HR manager, the plant manager, the union committee chairman, a union member, and a college intern on his first day. 

After leaving the conference room, he also shot a foundry employee in the back––that victim escaped the building and flagged down a motorist who took him to a nearby hospital. The shooter also wounded five police officers (one lost an eye, and one required disability retirement) before his rampage of terror––and his life––ended with an officer’s bullet.  

Beyond thinking and asking questions, making lists, and preparing resources, she wants you to train your employees how to see and hear warning signs. Train everyone to pay attention to their “Spidey senses,” says Ziman, and professionally train them all according to the Run, Hide, Fight system—consult local law enforcement for help. 
Create a culture of reporting, she adds. You see the signs at the airport and other public places: “If you see something, say something.” Empower people to feel comfortable enough to tell management if things don’t seem right, even if it turns out to be nothing. 

The Back Story—And What Could Have Been

The 45-year-old man who turned into a killer had worked at the foundry for 15 years and had a reputation as the company complainer. He was known for grumbling and espousing theories that the company was against him. The day before, he was written up by the plant manager for a safety/PPE violation; he had neglected to wear his safety glasses. But there had been a history of problems, and evidently his union rep had helped save his job on previous occasions.  

He was also a known firearms owner who had omitted a 1995 felony conviction from his 2014 Illinois FOID card application––he served two-and-a-half years in a Mississippi jail for stabbing his girlfriend. He was issued a FOID card by the Illinois State Police, and in March of 2014 he bought a gun (which he is believed to have used during the shooting) from a licensed gun dealer in Aurora. 

Later that month, he applied for a concealed carry license from the Illinois State Police––the background check involved a fingerprint check, and his felony conviction was then discovered. The Illinois State Police rejected his concealed carry application, cancelled his FOID card, and sent him a written notice demanding that he turn in the gun that he had purchased. However, Ziman said, police did not have the authority to search his residence without a warrant and could not obtain a warrant without knowledge of what firearms he did or did not have. It remains one of the tragic ironies of the catastrophe. 

His history of violence had continued in Illinois: He had six arrests with the Aurora Police Department, including arrests for domestic violence and violating a restraining order.

His co-workers knew he owned guns. Some also knew he had a laser on a gun. Following the mass shooting, a number of witnesses reported he had declared at 9:30 a.m. that if “they” fired him, he was going to “shoot every [expletive] in there and blow this place up.” By 1:24 p.m. that day, 911 calls began reporting an active shooter in the building. 

At the same time, the 45-year-old had left clues that his crime was premeditated. Whereas he had parked his car close to the door for years, on that day, he parked much further away that day. Later, internet search history on his work computer showed he’d been researching mass shootings.

Ziman urges foundries to harness the eyes and ears of employees. So much may have played out differently on that day if even one person had spoken up. Acting on the threats, management could have checked his locker, viewed cameras of the parking lot, and tracked his computer. The meeting could have been cancelled––the employee could have simply put in a day’s work and gone home. The termination could have occurred remotely. Police could have been consulted. 

What More Can You Do?

Witnesses’ statements later revealed the shooter openly and frequently talked about his grievances against the company. 

“Employees said he was a hothead and always mentioning the company was out to get him,” said Ziman. “They said he was prejudiced against white people and would complain about Jim Crow rules. 

“Handle your grievances,” she advised. “You need to look at your disciplinary process, and you need to make sure you are treating the action and not the individual … make sure you are consistent and that you are handling the grievances when people complain. Look into it.” 

As you formulate thoughts about crisis planning, Ziman advises you to request a police liaison for your company, and lean on them for planning assistance. In addition, consider creating a Threat Management Team comprising law enforcement, EAP/social services, facility security, human resources, a legal professional, mental health services, and foundry administration.

Ziman also recommends your foundry create a preparedness plan that includes the following actions:
Install cameras all over the foundry. 

• Install a system of flashing lights to serve as a warning during emergencies.
• Mark all doors, which helped officers locate the shooter in Aurora. 
• Create floor plans and keep 15 copies––give one to your local police department.
• Develop a training program to teach RUN, HIDE, FIGHT skills.
• Consider ancillary threats––encourage employees to confidentially share if they have domestic situations that could spill into workplace violence.
• Keep a daily roster of employees––always know exactly who is in the building. 
• Develop and communicate a rally point offsite where people should reunite.
• Plan for emergency first aid. 
• Incorporate your crisis plan into all new employee orientations.