A heavily-armed employee of an Internet company opened fire yesterday at his office near Boston, killing seven of his co-workers, a prosecutor said.
The Middlesex County assistant district attorney, Mr John McEvoy, said police received emergency calls in the wake of the shooting at Edgewater Technology in Wakefield, just outside Boston.
On entering the office building where Edgewater's offices were located, police found the 42-year-old gunman, identified as Michael McDermott, sitting in the lobby.
The suspect was armed with an AK-47, a shotgun and a semi-automatic handgun, police said.
Police went through the building and discovered seven victims, all of whom died from gunshot wounds, the prosecutor said. There were no additional gunmen or injuries, Mr McEvoy added.
Mr McDermott was due to be arraigned late last night or early today, he said.
"Obviously, it's very early in terms of motive. I'm comfortable at this point in saying that it's workplace-related, but I'm not going to go into any more details until we are sure," Mr McEvoy said. The suspect had been working with the firm since last March, he said.
"Wakefield police were able to subdue Mr McDermott, wrestle him to the ground and place him in custody and to disarm him," Mr McEvoy said, adding that "he is going to be charged with seven counts of murder".
Edgewater released a statement, expressing condolences to families and support for a police investigation into the incident. "The details of this morning's events remain unclear at this time and we will be assisting the police in every way possible with their investigation," said Ms Shirley Singleton, chief executive officer at Edgewater Technology.
"Everyone at Edgewater Technology is shocked and devastated by the loss of our friends. We extend our deepest sympathies to the victims' families at this tragic time," the statement said.
Edgewater created "Internetcentric solutions" for other businesses and has been re-tooling its staff and function in recent months, evolving from a provider of human resources to an Internet consulting and services business.
In November, Edgewater shed its staffing divisions, some of which had lost more than onethird of their profits in the first nine months of 2000, the company reported.
Public financial filings indicate Edgewater had begun buying back shares from stockholders, a common practice for companies trying to bolster share prices. The company's stock peaked this year at approximately $12 before declining to 6-3/8 in yesterday's trading.