Thornton, aged 34, was informed about an upcoming meeting at his place of employment a day before the shooting. While not being told the reason for the meeting, a witness recalled him "looking a little down and guilty". The meeting was for disciplinary reasons. Thornton had been recorded by a private detective stealing beer and loading it into a couple's vehicle on a previous occasion. He was also implicated in the theft of empty beer
kegs. Hartford Distributors is a wholesale distributor of
Budweiser beer products and
wine. The next day, Thornton arrived to work carrying a lunchbox containing two
9mm handguns (a
Ruger SR9 & a
Ruger P95). The meeting would start minutes later with general manager Steven Hollander, supervisor Louis Felder, and union representative Bryan Cirigliano entering the office. During the meeting, Thornton was said to be calm. He was also shown the video of himself stealing. Given the options of being fired or resigning, Thornton signed the resignation papers after asking questions about future job references. The meeting ended with a discussion about customers involved in stealing and confirming that Thornton would receive his final payment through the mail. The three men in the office escorted Thornton out of the building. While walking out, Thornton entered the kitchen and stated he was going to get a glass of water. Felder followed him there, while Cirigliano and Hollander continued down the hallway. While in the kitchen, Thornton took out the Ruger SR9 from his lunchbox and opened fire. With his first two shots, he killed Louis Felder, who was standing just outside the kitchen pleading with Thornton. Thornton's first shot also grazed Steven Hollander's arm and face. Thornton exited the kitchen and fatally shot Cirigliano in the hallway with two shots. Thornton then ran to the warehouse. In the warehouse, Thornton first shot Douglas Scruton, who was on a forklift which ended up crashing into a wall and caught on fire. He then fatally shot Victor James and Craig Pepin. After shooting the three, Thornton chased Francis Fazio in the warehouse until he reached a trash compactor area where William Ackerman was working. Thornton fatally shot both of them. Afterwards, Thornton entered the "Breakage room" where he shot Edwin Kennison in the shoulder. Kennison ran away through the employee's entrance while Thornton chased him. The both of them were outside and ran onto the driveway. In the driveway, Thornton shot Jerome Rosenstein three times while he was driving past on a golf cart. Eventually, Kennison tripped outside the lobby entrance and pleaded with Thornton. Thornton fatally shot him two more times. A coworker who was outside with Thornton shouted at him to drop his gun. Thornton walked past the lobby entrance and reentered the building through the employee's entrance. Thornton walked to the main office area where he entered the office of a female coworker. He spared the coworker as she was suffering from
multiple sclerosis. Thornton left the office and entered the lobby after noticing police officers outside. After entering the lobby, Thornton shot the glass door of the office area and reentered the offices. In one of the offices, he placed down his lunchbox which contained the unused Ruger P95. He moved to and locked himself in another office where he would remain until his suicide. Police arrived on the scene just three minutes after the first 911 call. Police entered the building ten minutes after the first 911 call. Thornton promptly hid in a locked office. As more police entered the building, Thornton used a discarded cell phone to call his mother and explained to her what he had done. He told her he planned on turning the gun on himself. As police closed in, Thornton called 911, saying his motive for the massacre was racism he had experienced in the workplace. He told the 911 operator that he wished he had killed more people. Soon after hanging up and telling the police he was coming out of the room, he killed himself with a shot to the head. It is determined that Thornton had fired 26 rounds, including the suicide shot, from his Ruger SR9, only reloading once. == Victims ==