TAMPA, Fla. -- A disgruntled ex-employee of an insurance company walked into a cafeteria at lunchtime Wednesday, shooting to death three male executives of the company and critically wounding two women before fleeing and later killing himself, officials said.
The body of the gunman, identified as Paul Calden, 33, was found at a park in nearby Clearwater about two hours after the cafeteria shootings, said Tampa police spokesman Scott Guffey.
The shootings happened at about 1:05 p.m. in the Island Restaurant, a cafeteria in the Island Center office building in the Rocky Point area near the Courtney Campbell Causeway.
'He walked in and shot five of them and dropped his gun and walked out,' said Tampa Police Lt. Tim Cotter. A pistol was found at the scene.
The building is a major office for Fireman's Fund Insurance Co. and the company said Calden had worked there. Police said he chose his victims.
'The disgruntled employee theory is the one that seems to be the most prevalent at this time,' Guffey said. 'The bullets he shot were not random; he walked specifically to a table and shot who he intended to shoot.'
Company spokesman John Kozero at Fireman's Fund Insurance Co. headquarters in Novato, Calif., said Calden worked at the Tampa office from March 1990 to March 1992. He said he did not know the circumstances under which Calden left the company.
Those killed were identified as Donald C. Jerner, 46, company vice president; Ronald J. Ciarlone, who would have been 47 Friday, office controller; and Frank Ditullio, 42, operations manager.
The two women who were wounded were identified as Sheila E. Cascade, 52, office human resources manager; and Marie Jose 'Jo' MacMillan, 56, senior underwriter. The names were released by Fireman's Fund and Tampa police.
Cascade was in critical condition at St. Joseph's Hospital with a gunshot wound to the head, said spokeswoman Mary Estes.
MacMillan was shot in the right shoulder and was taken to Tampa General Hospital, where she was listed in critical condition Wednesday night, said spokeswoman Karen Clarke.
The Fireman's Fund office houses 250 employees who perform background processing on business policies written across the East Coast.
Witnesses said the gunman said, 'This is what you get for firing me, ' before he began shooting.
Police said two of the men died at the scene while Jerner died at St. Joseph's Hospital.
Herbert Hansmeyer, chairman of Fireman's Fund Insurance Co., said the company was arranging psychological trauma counseling for employees of the office.
'Our first concern in this tragedy are our employees,' Hansmeyer said.
He said he and other top executives would fly from company headquarters in Novato, Calif., to Tampa to meet with employees and extend personal condolences.
After the shootings, police said, Calden drove to nearby Clearwater.
Clearwater police spokesman Wayne Shelor said Calden drove to Cliff Stephens Park on the eastern edge of the city, pulled his car off the road and parked, and walked about 100 yards, crossing a small creek.
Shelor said a park employee saw Calden sit on a bench 'in a contemplative manner' for a short time. He said Calden then walked to the 13th tee of a Frisbee golf course, where players throw Frisbees into chain baskets, and shot himself in the head with a .357-caliber pistol at 3:15 p.m.
'Some kids in the area heard the shot and called 911,' Shelor said.
The shootings came two days after a man armed with a rifle opened fire near the main gate of the Central Intelligence Agency in Langley, Va., killing two employees and wounding three others. Police were still hunting for that gunman Wednesday.
