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Man charged with murder in attack

A man was charged with murder on Thursday after a shooting at a laundry factory near Philadelphia left two people dead and three others injured, with prosecutors calling the attack a “cold-blooded” attack.

Wilbert Rosado-Ruiz, 61, is charged with two counts of manslaughter, multiple counts of aggravated assault, reckless endangerment and possession of a weapon, according to Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer. His arraignment was scheduled for Thursday afternoon, Stollsteimer said.

Rosado-Ruiz was charged in connection with a shooting that occurred Wednesday morning at Delaware County Linen in Chester, a city south of Philadelphia. The family-run company was founded in 1988 and provides linen rental and laundry services to businesses in southeastern Pennsylvania and surrounding states, according to its website.

Stollsteimer said the shooting appeared to stem from an argument between Rosado-Ruiz and a co-worker. It is unclear what led to the argument between the suspect and his co-worker, authorities said.

Two brothers, identified as Leovanny Pena Pena and Giguenson Pena Pena, were killed and three others – including the colleague involved in the fight – were injured, authorities said. As of Thursday afternoon, two of the surviving victims were reported to be in stable condition, while another victim was in critical but stable condition.

“This is a terrible, terrible event that should never happen,” Stollsteimer said at a news conference Thursday. “As I said yesterday, shootings happen too often in America. It could have happened in any community, but unfortunately it happened here in the city of Chester.”

Shooting in Ohio: 3 dead, 3 injured after ‘chaotic’ shooting in Ohio; suspect at large

Shooter walked around “methodically” and shot at victims

The shooting occurred at about 8:30 a.m. and Chester Police Commissioner Steven Gretsky said officers found a “very chaotic crime scene.” They found a dead man outside the store entrance and another dead inside.

According to Stollsteimer, surveillance video showed Rosado-Ruiz entering the store and having a verbal altercation with an employee. He then went outside to make a phone call, returned with a gun and opened fire.

“He walked methodically through the company’s premises,” Stollsteimer said.

The co-worker was the first victim of the incident and left the building after being shot, Stollsteimer said. As Rosado-Ruiz was leaving the building, he noticed the woman and fired several more shots, but he either misfired or ran out of ammunition, Stollsteimer added.

Rosado-Ruiz then fled the scene but was soon arrested after an officer from nearby Coach, Pennsylvania, heard the vehicle description and stopped the car, Gretsky said.

Stollsteimer added that although Rosado-Ruiz was the legal owner of the gun used in the shooting, he faced a weapons offense because he did not have a permit to carry a concealed weapon.

Latest workplace shooting in the USA

There have been at least 168 mass shootings in the United States this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which tracks gun violence cases. The organization defines mass shootings as shootings in which at least four people are shot, not including the shooter, regardless of whether they die or not.

Mass murders, as defined by a tracker from USA TODAY, Northeastern University and the Associated Press, include incidents in which four or more people (excluding the perpetrator) are killed within a 24-hour period. According to the tracker, there were 15 such killings in 2024.

The shooting in Chester, Pennsylvania, is the latest incident of workplace violence perpetrated by disgruntled workers or former employees. Assault is the fifth leading cause of workplace death, according to the National Safety Council.

Between 2021 and 2022, the public service recorded over 57,600 injuries. In 2022, 525 deaths from physical injury were reported.

Last year, seven people were killed in two linked shootings in Half Moon Bay, California, in what authorities called a “workplace violence incident.” In June 2022, three people were killed and three others injured – including the shooter – at a manufacturing plant in Maryland.

About five months later, a gunman who a witness said was targeting co-workers killed six people at a Walmart in Virginia. In 2021, a former employee at a FedEx branch in Indiana killed eight people.

Although there have been several workplace killings by workers in recent years, experts say these incidents are relatively rare compared to all mass killings in the United States, USA TODAY reported in 2022.

“Most workplace homicides are actually not committed by employees,” James Alan Fox, a criminologist and professor at Northeastern University, previously told USA TODAY.

Contributors: Jeanine Santucci and Nada Hassanein, USA TODAY

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