Walmart Shooter Felt He Was Not Treated Fairly

His supervisors said John Gillane was well liked and had no work issues.

However. John Gillane, 45, a nine-year veteran Walmart employee felt he was not fairly treated.

After purchasing ammunition at the Reno, NV, Walmart  store , Gillane shot and wounded three supervisors on Oct. 29, 2010.

Initial news reports indicated that employment conflict played no role in the incident. However,  the  Reno Post Gazette newspaper has reported that court documents show that Gillane told police he  felt he was not treated fairly during his nine years of employment at the store. Gillane also was upset about a recent work evaluation by one of the three supervisors he shot, Eric Hill, and because his hours were being slashed.

Gillane  pleaded not guilty on Jan. 19, 2011 to attempted murder, battery with a deadly weapon causing substantial bodily harm and assault with a deadly weapon.

Court records show that Gillane told detectives he felt like he was “taking on Goliath” when he fired gunshots Oct. 29, 2010 at three of his supervisors at the Kietzke Lane store. Wounded in the incident were Richard Burns, Rick Sanders and Hill.

Preliminary hearing testimony revealed Gillane had many other problems, including two former wives leaving him for female lovers, a recent eviction, the fact that he didn’t see his young daughter very often and increased health insurance rates. Police were called to Gillane’s motel room two weeks prior to the shooting because Gillane was armed and suicidal.

Gillane told police that he was trying to intimidate the managers when he confronted them with a large, loaded handgun. Two managers testified they were shot when trying to flee from Gillane, while the third was shot while standing in the hallway. Gillane told police he planned to confront the managers during their morning meetings, so they could call someone higher in the Wal-Mart Stores Inc. corporation to listen to his complaints.

The victims testified Gillane was well-liked and had no work issues, and they were unaware he disliked them.