Rambo-Style Shooter Goes Postal at FedEx

The name Kennesaw is derived from the Cherokee Indian word gah-nee-sah meaning cemetery or burial ground. The name hit home on April 29, 2014.

At least six victims have been taken to a hospital after a shooting this morning at a FedEx facility in Kennesaw, Georgia, Cobb County police say. The shooting happened at a Fed-Ex facility at 1675 Airport Road in Kennesaw.

Multiple law enforcement agencies are on the scene of the suspected workplace shooting.

Officials from WellStar Kennestone Hospital say they've received six patients from the shooting, hospital spokesman Tyler Pearson said. One of the six was in surgery, he said. Injuries range from minor to serious. Kennestone is a Level II Trauma Center.

A witness stated the FedEx 19-year-old shooter, dressed all in black, had an assault rifle, a knife and bullets strapped across his chest, "like Rambo."

Rambo is a film series based on the David Morrell novel First Blood and starring Sylvester Stallone as John Rambo, a troubled Vietnam War veteran and former Green Beret who is skilled in many aspects of survival, weaponry, hand to hand combat and guerrilla warfare. The series consists of the films First Blood (1982), Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985), Rambo III (1988), and Rambo (2008).

FedEx is "aware of the situation," company spokesman Scott Fielder said when asked about reports of a shooting.

Officials say the lone suspected gunman was found dead, likely from a self-inflicted gun shot wound. The gunman is described as a "package handler," an employee of the facility.

The gunman has been identified as Geddy Kramer. Kramer was a 2013 graduate of North Cobb High School.
Kennesaw is about 30 miles northwest of Atlanta.

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On Friday, March 28, 2014, a FedEx employee, a 48-year-old female, making deliveries was shot and wounded in Chicago. The company confirmed the victim is an employee. Police say the Friday night shooting occurred in the Oakland neighborhood on the city's South Side.

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While "going postal," as a phrase, has come into usage, due to the workplace violence incidents at the United States Postal Services, there appears to be more silence regarding any kind of similar phenomenon occurring at FedEx centers and workplaces. Before this one.

But buried deep in workplace violence documents, there are hints of a greater problem.

The following incident of April 7, 1994, is mentioned in a workplace violence white paper:
"A Federal Express pilot took a claw hammer and attacked three others in the cockpit, forcing one of them to put the fully loaded DC-10 cargo plane through a series of violent rolls and nose dive that brought the whole crew back bleeding....The case of Auburn R. Calloway, on the other hand, who attacked three of his fellow Federal Express pilots, was unpredictable. Calloway had organized his Neighborhood Watch Program and was an ex-Navy pilot. However, he was scheduled to appear the next day before a disciplinary hearing at Federal Express to face charges that he had lied about his military and work experience."

The official FedEx employee manual states:

WORKPLACE VIOLENCE

FedEx has zero tolerance for workplace violence and has established clear standards of behavior in our policies. Conflicts must always be resolved in a peaceful, professional and respectful manner. The FedEx Workplace Violence Prevention Program helps to provide team members and vendors with a safe and secure work environment. Our mission is to increase awareness of developing situations and other indicators of workplace violence. Unauthorized firearms or weapons are strictly prohibited on company-leased or -owned property and in buildings, aircraft or vehicles. Possession of firearms or weapons on company property may be grounds for immediate dismissal.

All FedEx employees are responsible for reporting potential or actual situations of workplace violence either through a special web-based reporting system, contacting a member of FedEx Management, Security or Human Resources, or calling the FedEx Alert Line in their respective countries.

All reported instances of workplace violence are investigated by a Workplace Violence Response Team, which is a group established to help maintain a safe and secure workplace. The team is made up of members from the following areas: Security, Legal, Human Resources, Benefits, Safety, Contract Relations and the Employee Assistance Program. When the Response Team receives a report of potential workplace violence, they properly investigate and make a recommendation of action to be taken.