Gunman kills 4, self at plant

February 6, 2001

MELROSE PARK, Ill. - A former factory worker who got caught stealing from his employer forced his way into the suburban Chicago engine plant Monday and opened fire one day before he was to report to prison. He killed five people, including himself, and wounded four others.

William D. Baker, 66, showed up at the Navistar International plant with an arsenal of weapons in a golf bag and made his way through the vast building, blasting away with an AK-47 assault rifle, police said.

5 killed, 4 hurt in factory shooting

The Indianapolis Star

February 6, 2001

Melrose Park, Ill. -- A factory worker who was fired six years ago for theft returned to the plant Monday and opened fire with an assault rifle, slaying four employees and wounding four others before killing himself, authorities said.

William D. Baker, 66, a former worker at Navistar International Corp., had been scheduled to turn himself over to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons today, authorities said.

Why did Baker have his guns?

MSNBC.com

February 6, 2001

William Baker was getting ready to report to prison for his second felony conviction. He was convicted of a criminal sexual assault in 1998 and more recently was to do time for theft of engines and parts from the Navistar plant. In Illinois, felons are prohibited from possession a firearms owner identification (FOID) card, their ticket to buying weapons. But that didn't stop Baker, who had a legal, up-to-date FOID card.

State records show that Baker received his FOID card in February 1993, and renewed it on May 8, 1998. That was just two weeks before his conviction for sexual assault. "The fact that he was a convicted felon and had four weapons on him that weren't confiscated is amazing to us," said Kirsten Curley, a spokeswoman for the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence.

It appears most of his guns were purchased legally. Baker bought his Remington 870 shotgun and Marlin 30-30 rifle at a Glen Ellyn gun store in December 1993. NBC 5 has learned that the revolver he used to kill himself and one of his victims was purchased legally in Lincolnwood in 1974. Still being traced is an SKS 1954 R, a soviet assault rifle similar to an AK-47.

Melrose Park police confirm they will run the shell casings from the crime scene through the state police IBIS system to see if any of these weapons have ever been used in any previous crimes. A fifth gun, a .22 caliber rifle, was discovered when Baker's home was searched Monday night.

Both the Illinois State Police and the Illinois Attorney General's Office say there appears to be no provision in Illinois for taking someone's guns away once they are convicted of a felony as Baker was twice.

Former employee returns to factory with assault rifle; kills four, then self

Watertown Daily Times

February 6, 2001

At first, Martin Reutimann couldn't believe it. "I heard somebody yell, "There's a guy in the center aisle with a gun!"' the 24-year-old engineer said.

Reutimann saw people running past him, so he grabbed his coat and cellular phone, and desperately dialed 911. Within minutes Monday, four employees were dead and another four wounded at the suburban Chicago engine plant.

Felon's possession of guns illegal

Chicago Sun-Times

February 6, 2001

Authorities said they are not sure where William Baker got the four guns he carried inside Navistar's Melrose Park plant, but the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms said it has put an expedited trace on the weapons.

Recovered from Baker's body were four guns: a fully automatic AK-47 assault rifle; a snubnose, .38-caliber police special revolver; a Remington 12 gauge shotgun, and a .30-caliber Winchester hunting rifle with scope.

Baker should not have had the weapons because of his criminal record, ATF spokesman Tom Ahern said.

Baker was a convicted felon. If he bought the guns prior to his conviction and sentencing in 1998, he should have turned them over. If he received them afterward, he purchased them illegally.

The traces on the weapons will show where the guns were made, who the wholesaler and retailer of the weapon were, and who purchased them, assuming the proper paperwork was filled out.

5 dead in Navistar shooting; ex-worker blamed

4 workers injured; two are in critical condition

A former employee who was one day away from a federal prison term for stealing from Navistar burst into the company's engine plant in west suburban Melrose Park today and opened fire, leaving five people dead and four wounded.

William D. Baker, 66, was scheduled to surrender to federal authorities Tuesday to start serving a five-month sentence for conspiracy to commit theft from an interstate shipment, authorities said. Assistant U.S. Atty. Nancy K. Needles confirmed that Baker was the gunman.

Melrose Park Police Chief Vito Scavo said at a news conference this afternoon that Baker, who was fired from the company in 1995, showed up at the plant's northwest entrance about 9:44 a.m. The plant is located at 10400 W. North Ave.

Baker was carrying a golf bag that contained a variety of weapons, Scavo said.

A security guard at the entrance stopped Baker, who tried to talk his way into the building by saying he had to return some property to an employee, according to Scavo. When the guard refused to let Baker in, he brandished a weapon and, holding the gun to the guard's side, entered the building.

Once inside, he released the guard and proceeded to walk down a hallway, firing at employees. The shooting lasted 8 to 10 minutes, Scavo said, and ended when Baker walked into an office, shot a worker there, then killed himself.

Investigators found an AK-47 assault rifle, a hunting rifle, a shotgun and several other weapons at the scene, according to Scavo. He said it appeared that Baker used the AK-47 to shoot the workers, but the investigating is ongoing.

"He had quite a lot of ammunition in the form of clips, boxes of ammunition and loose ammunition," Scavo said.

He said Navistar has security guards posted around the building, but he did not know whether they are armed.

Navistar spokesman Bob Carso would not release the names of two of the dead people, at the request of their families. He identified the others as Daniel Dorsch, 52, a supervisor in the engine lab who had worked for the company for 26 years; Robert Wehrheim, 47, who had worked for the company for two years as a technician in the engine lab; and Baker.

Carl S. Swanson, 45, of Des Plaines, was in critical condition at Gottlieb Memorial Hospital after four hours of surgery for a gunshot wound to the abdomen; Matthew Kusch, 22, Streamwood, was grazed by a bullet on a toe of his right foot and was treated and released from Gottlieb.

A hospital spokesman said Mujtaba Aidross, 24, was in critical condition at Loyola University Medical Center with a gunshot wound to the chest; Brian Snyder, 26, was in fair condition at Loyola with a gunshot wound to the left arm.

Julio Negron, a shipping department worker on disability, came to the plant when he heard the news.

"I said to myself, how could it be Baker, he's such a nice guy," Negron said.

Martin Reutimann, a 24-year-old engineer at the plant, said he was sitting at his desk when the shootings happened.

"I heard somebody yell, 'There's a guy in the center aisle with a gun!''' The aisle is a long hallway where engines are tested, he said.

Reutimann said he didn't believe it at first, then saw people running past him, and grabbed his coat and cellular phone. He said he heard gunshots as he dialed 911.

Wes Terry, another engineer at the plant, said he saw a co-worker with blood stains on his shirt being helped by another employee.

Fuel systems engineer Robert Jones, a 32-year veteran just 14 days from retirement, said he knew four of the victims personally.

"I was one aisle away, and I heard shots. It didn't sound like engine noise," he said.

"I was concerned for my life and wanted to get out of the building as soon as possible."

The plant employs about 1,400 people, Navistar spokesman Roy Wiley said.

Navistar International is the nation's second-biggest producer of heavy-duty trucks, which it sells under the International brand. It also manufactures mid-sized trucks, school buses and diesel engines, which it sells to Ford and other truck makers.

The company employs about 17,000 people and had $8.4 billion in sales last year.

Navistar operates production plants in Canada, Mexico and the United States and has a contract manufacturing operation in Brazil. It exports its products to more than 70 countries and ranked No. 202 on the latest Fortune 500 list of America's biggest companies.

Navistar gunman got past cracks in gun law

When a DuPage County judge convicted William D. Baker of criminal sexual assault on May 22, 1998, authorities should have made him relinquish possession of firearms he owned. They didn't.

When a federal judge accepted Baker's guilty plea last November to charges he helped steal engines and engine parts, authorities had a second chance to force him to turn in the guns. Again, Baker kept them.

State law prohibits convicted felons from possessing firearms. But as Baker's case illustrates, authorities have yet to devise a mechanism to enforce that law, authorities said.

The 66-year-old former Navistar International Corp. worker reappeared Monday at the Melrose Park plant where he had worked for 39 years and, armed with an assault rifle, shotgun, revolver and hunting rifle, killed four workers and wounded four others before taking his own life.

Melrose Park police said Tuesday that Baker had possessed at least two of those guns-the Remington shotgun and the hunting rifle-since 1993, when he bought them from a Glen Ellyn dealer.

Though he was convicted of felonies in 1998 and November 2000, no attempt was made to force Baker to relinquish ownership of those guns, authorities said.

Investigators with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms were still trying to trace where and when Baker obtained the other two guns he used in his rampage: an SKS assault rifle and a .38-caliber revolver.

Judges, prosecutors and law-enforcement officials interviewed Tuesday all praised the need for the state law that has been on the books for years, but each insisted responsibility for its enforcement didn't fall on their shoulders.

"As soon as someone is a convicted felon, if he has a gun at home, he's committing another felony," said Cook County Associate Judge Robert Bastone. "But unless someone knows about it, it's a crime that goes by without being noticed. That step in the system is missing."

As authorities grappled with questions about Baker's cache of weapons, the sprawling Navistar diesel-engine plant reopened with at least 10 counselors on hand to aid workers. Navistar human resources manager Jeff Bowen said about 20 percent of the plant's 1,400-member workforce didn't show up for work Tuesday. The section of the plant where the murders took place remained closed.

Autopsy results from the Cook County medical examiner's office showed each of the victims died of a single gunshot wound.

Baker, of Carol Stream, embarked on his rampage a day before he was slated to surrender to prison authorities for his role in stealing $195,400 in truck engines and engine parts from Navistar.

After forcing a security guard at gunpoint to let him into the building, Baker walked through the plant's diesel-engine testing room and sprayed gunfire at workers in his way. His actions were random and not targeted at any specific individuals, said Melrose Park Police Chief Vito Scavo.

After firing 25 to 30 rounds in a span of eight to 12 minutes, Baker walked into a corner office, shot and killed his last victim, and then shot himself in the head with the handgun, police said.

Bryan Snyder, 26, shot in the left arm, said Tuesday that he thought at first the attack was a prank.

"It was completely unreal," Snyder said Tuesday night at his Hanover Park home after being released from Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood.

When co-worker Carl Swanson fell to the floor, Snyder said he thought his colleague was playing around. Then two shots whizzed by Snyder, and a third tore through his upper arm.

Even as he rolled to the floor, Snyder said he was convinced the man, whom he had never seen before, had shot him with a paintball gun. "I can't really say I was ever afraid," said Snyder, a development engineer who had worked at Navistar for more than two years.

Swanson, 45, of Des Plaines, was shot in the chest and was in serious condition Tuesday at Gottlieb Memorial Hospital in Melrose Park.

Mujtaba H. Aidroos, 24, of Roselle, was upgraded to fair condition at Loyola with a gunshot wound to his chest. Matt Kusch, 22, of Streamwood was treated for a gunshot wound to his foot at Gottlieb and released Monday.

Killed were Daniel T. Dorsch, 52, of Elmwood Park; Robert E. Wehrheim, 47, of Hanover Park; Michael Brus, 48, of Hinckley, and William Garcia, 43, of Carpentersville.

Navistar spokesman Bob Corso said the guard followed the company's procedures when she screened Baker and refused to allow him to enter the plant. He then pulled a gun, Corso said, adding that none of the plant's guards is armed.

Where Baker got his guns-and how he kept them after two felony convictions-were key questions Garcia's relatives had when they picked up his belongings Tuesday at the Melrose Park police station.

"It blows my mind," said Garcia's brother, Don. "It was unbelievable."

Baker was issued a firearm owner's identification card on Feb. 19, 1993, said Illinois State Police spokesman David Sanders. That December, he bought the Remington shotgun and the .30-caliber hunting rifle from Pepper Sports, a licensed gun dealer in Glen Ellyn.

Baker's FOID card was renewed May 8, 1998. Fourteen days later, Baker was convicted of a felony for having sex with an underage girl. No effort was made to see if Baker owned any guns, said DuPage County State's Atty. Joseph Birkett, adding his office bore no responsibility to ferret out the information.

"Unless we are aware of the fact he owns guns, how would we know?" Birkett said. "And there's no statutory requirement for the state's attorney to make such an inquiry.

"We don't have the authority to compel a search or compel a defendant to give up his 5th Amendment rights to answer questions unrelated to the case," Birkett said. "If we had known he possessed firearms, my policy is to take action to do something with those weapons. But if we don't have that information, it's impossible to take action."

In November, Baker was convicted of another felony, pleading guilty to playing a role in a scheme with five other men to steal engines and engine parts from the plant.

"Your honor, I'm sorry I did what I did," Baker told U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber at his sentencing. "I thought I was ... under the guide of my supervisor who at the time wanted me to do that."

Baker didn't mention the guns he had at home that he should have surrendered. And no one in the federal court system made an attempt to learn whether he had guns, authorities said.

Both felonies were reported to Illinois State Police and his FOID card was invalidated, officials said. If Baker had tried to use the card to buy a gun or ammunition, the sale would have been rejected and his card confiscated by the store, police said.

Federal court officials said federal probation officers are charged with ensuring that people on probation adhere to probation terms, including relinquishing firearms. But U.S. District Chief Judge Marvin Aspen said probation officers can't-and shouldn't-take on the responsibility of searching a felon's home for weapons.

State Rep. Tom Dart, a Chicago Democrat who is a former Cook County prosecutor, said he will review the law to see how it can be better enforced.

The problem of enforcing the felon firearms law may be a matter of manpower, or lack of it, said Tim Menard, executive director of the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence.

"If an individual is convicted of a felony and owns firearms, and that person is not willingly going to give up those firearms, it's not the fault of law enforcement," Menard said. "They don't have the resources to search a person's house and confiscate those weapons."

The shooter's sordid life

He was friendly and laid back. He would wave at neighbors and ride his bike around Carol Stream.

Willie D. Baker also was cruel. He once molested a child and served time for it. He threw a bottle through another driver's window on an expressway. One neighbor recalled Baker swearing at her and calling her a bad parent.

Friendly and flawed.

Such were the conflicting snapshots of the 66-year-old man that emerged in the aftermath of a bullet-riddled rampage Monday at a Melrose Park engine-producing plant where he used to work. Five people, including Baker, were killed and four others were injured, two severely.

Authorities said Baker, just 28 hours away from having to begin a five-month prison sentence for theft from the plant, loaded a golf bag with guns and forced his way into Navistar's International Truck and Engine Corp. plant where he toiled for 39 years as a tool attendant until he was fired for the theft in 1994.

Around 9:30 a.m. Monday, Baker pulled a .38-caliber revolver on a guard to get past a security checkpoint and walked into the 2 million-square-foot plant.

He then opened fire with an AK-47 assault rifle, killing and maiming workers for 10 to 15 minutes, police said. After going into a room and spraying the area with gunfire, he turned the gun on himself, police said.

Police said they were still searching for a motive in the attack that chased plant workers into the cold and into hiding in the basement. Baker left no note, police said, and authorities could only point to Baker's 1994 firing and the impending federal prison term as possible reasons for the rampage.

Killed in the attack were: Michael Brus, 48, of Hinckley; Daniel T. Dorsch, 52, of Elmwood Park; William Garcia, 43, of Carpentersville; and Robert E. Wehrheimer, 47, of Hanover Park.

Mujtaba H. Aidroos, 24, of Roselle was shot in the chest. He was in serious condition at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood.

Carl S. Swanson, 45, of Des Plaines was in critical condition at Gottlieb Memorial Hospital in Melrose Park after four hours of surgery on a gunshot wound in his abdomen, officials said.

Matthew R. Kusch, 22, of Streamwood, who was shot in a foot, was treated and released from Gottlieb. Bryan W. Snyder, 26, of Bartlett was shot in the left arm and was in fair condition at Loyola, officials said.

Monday evening, Kusch came out of his home briefly to tell reporters to leave him alone.

"I got shot in the foot and all my friends died today. Give me some time, I don't want to talk to you people right now," he said.

It was unclear whether Baker knew any of the people he shot.

The incident baffled some law enforcement officials who noted Baker had not worked at the Melrose Park since he was fired in 1994 and likely had never worked with several of the younger people he shot. He also was not looking at that long of a prison sentence on the theft charges and had been imprisoned before.

The hulking Baker, who stood 6 feet 3 inches tall and weighed nearly 300 pounds, admitted he and five others stole $195,000 worth of engines and auto parts from the plant in the early 1990s. A co-defendant wore a wire, and all pleaded guilty, prosecutors said.

Baker got five months in prison and five months of home confinement, and was ordered to pay back some of the $195,000 to Navistar.

Baker, who still earned an $800-a-month pension even after his firing, was just a bit player in the theft scheme. He drove the forklift to hoist the stolen machinery into trucks. None of his victims Monday appeared to have any connection to the case, Assistant U.S. Attorney William Hogan Jr. said.

After his guilty plea in June and before his sentencing in November, authorities conducted an extensive background check on Baker and opted to allow him to turn himself in for the prison stay that was supposed to begin today, Hogan said.

"It's bizarre," he said. "Obviously the logical conclusion is (the shootings are) tied into the conviction and sentencing. But clearly no one here, no one in the FBI or no one in the probation department thought he would do something like this or we wouldn't have let him self-report."

Born in 1934 in Evergreen, Ala., William Dan Baker began working for the engine company in 1955. He was married at least three times and has several adult children from his first two marriages and a 6-year-old son from his latest marriage, officials said.

He was no stranger to trouble.

In 1993, he pleaded guilty to criminal damage to property for throwing a bottle at a car while driving on Interstate 290, authorities said.

In 1997 he was accused of molesting a 12-year-old girl. He pleaded guilty to criminal sexual assault the following year in exchange for prosecutors dropping another charge. He served a month in jail, as well as time in a work-release program, authorities said.

He separated from his wife after the incident and they divorced last year. He had since moved out of their West Chicago home and into a tidy yellow-brick townhouse at 1489 Walnut Circle in Carol Stream, a home that Baker bought for $119,000 last year, records show.

The molestation conviction forced him to register as a sex offender, a fact his neighbors knew after stumbling upon his picture on the Internet and spreading the word.

"We just watched the kids and tried to give him the benefit of the doubt, that maybe he was trying to make a new life for himself," said Shealah Agraz, a Carol Stream neighbor. "We were cautious, but he was really friendly."

But Julia Deem, a former neighbor of Baker's in West Chicago and a friend of his ex-wife's, saw a different side. She was initially stunned when she heard Monday's news, but it wore off quickly, she said.

"I was shocked to think this was my neighbor's husband," Deem said. "But I can totally see him doing this. It's not out of character."

Other West Chicago former neighbors said they only saw Baker recently while he was visiting his young son. They described him as "a quiet man" who would frequently wave hello.

Now the people of Melrose Park as well as the rest of the area and even the country know him as yet another person who has taken his problems into the workplace and left a deadly trail and unanswered questions.

"I'm glad the guy ... is dead," said Marguerite Papenbrok, the sister of William Garcia, one of the four people killed. "I wish I was the one that shot him. I hope he suffered."