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07-20-2010, 07:26 AM
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Gunman Kills Two at Albuquerque Emcore Plant
A former Emcore Corp. employee shot seven people at the company's Albuquerque manufacturing campus on July 12, 2010, killing two workers and wounding four others before shooting himself, Albuquerque police said. Police identified the gunman as Robert Reza, 37, who had worked at the plant at 1600 Eubank Blvd. SE. Investigators said he arrived shortly before 9:30 a.m., forced his way onto the campus and fired 21 rounds, most of them outside the buildings. Sharon Cunningham, 47, was shot twice on an exterior stairway and died at University of New Mexico Hospital, police said. Michele Turner, 36, was shot repeatedly inside and died at the scene. Three other employees survived their wounds: Rodney Noble, 58, shot in the back, Dixie Colvin, 58, shot in both legs, and Malissia Mai, 54, wounded in the leg. Also wounded was Adrienne Basciano, 49, an Emcore employee and Reza's former girlfriend. Police said she was shot multiple times in an employee break area and was hospitalized in critical condition. Dispatchers took more than 30 calls while Reza moved through the complex, according to police. Employees shut themselves in offices and work areas, stayed on the line and tried to tell dispatchers where they heard gunfire and where they believed the gunman was. Officers were inside within minutes of the first call. Reza fell back into an interior room and, as he saw police arriving, shot himself once in the head, Chief Ray Schultz said. Investigators concluded the attack was not aimed at the company but grew out of a domestic violence and custody dispute between Reza and Basciano, the parents of 5-year-old twins. Basciano had told co-workers she planned to report Reza's abuse to authorities, police said. Records showed at least one earlier domestic violence call involving Reza outside Albuquerque, and drunken driving arrests in 2000 and 2003. Schultz, who called the campus a secure facility, said Reza appeared to be looking for specific people. "He was actually in hunt for something or someone," the chief said. The plant stayed closed the next day, when co-workers left flowers and candles at a memorial outside the gates, and reopened that Thursday.
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