Shooter Kills Two at Watkins Lines Dispatch Office

A truck driver reportedly opened fire yesterday with two handguns at a dispatch office for Watkins Motor Lines in suburban Cincinnati, a company that once employed him, killing two men and wounding three before fleeing, authorities said. Police arrested and charged former Watkins driver Tom West at an Indiana truck stop more than two hours later.

Police said the employees in the West Chester office where the shooting took place did not know West.

Watkins officials released an official statement which said, in part: “Mr. West was an employee of Watkins Motor Lines from October 1998 through November 2001, at which time Mr. West resigned from his over-the-road driving position in Atlanta, GA…. Please keep all of the Cincinnati families in your prayers during this extremely difficult time. Counselors from Crisis Management International are on site to help employees with this tragedy. There are approximately 313 employees at the Cincinnati location working between the over-the-road office, terminal and maintenance employees.”