Man goes to pick up final paycheck — and pulls gun on ex-coworkers, Calif. cops say
There was gunfire at a Central Valley trucking company over the weekend after an ex-worker came to pick up his last paycheck with a firearm, authorities said.
San Joaquin County deputies said Beant Singh went to Dhaliwal Brothers Trucking in Lathrop Saturday at 10:30 a.m. threatening to shoot his former coworkers, ABC10 reports. Singh fired once into the ground near two workers, but no one was hurt, the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office wrote in a Facebook post on Saturday.
“In the back of my head, I was thinking about my family,” said Sukhjinder Singh, who co-owns the business with his brother, Jasprit, FOX40 reports. “Like for a second, I couldn’t even breathe.”
Officers arrested the ex-employee, but even when he was in police custody he said “he would come back and handle what he started,” according to the sheriff’s office.
Deputies said in the Facebook post that Beant Singh had been “let go” from the job, but workers at the company said he actually quit on his own, FOX40 reports.
“He worked here for a year,” Sukhjinder Singh said, according to FOX40. “We never had an issue. That was his last day.”
Deputies said Beant Singh, 32, faces charges of criminal threats and felony assault with a firearm, the Stockton Record reports. He was booked at the San Joaquin County Jail.
Photos deputies posted on Facebook along with the story of Beant Singh’s arrest show a man who appears to be in police custody, as well as a firearm and ammunition.
Workers at the company said they recognized the situation could have ended differently.
“I was really scared,” Sukhjinder Singh said, according to CBS13. “And I’m still scared if this guy comes out what’s going to happen. I have a 4-month-old baby. Of course, you’re scared for him. I have a family. Who’s going to look after them if anything happened like that?”
Surveillance video obtained by CBS13 shows the gunman pulling the weapon from his waistband, and then pointing it inches away from another man’s head.
Deputies and workers said they weren’t sure what led the ex-worker to snap, CBS13 and FOX40 reports.
“We’re not sure what issues were going on previously at the business but he was just instructed to pick up his last paycheck and he came with the gun,” Deputy Andrea Lopez said, according to FOX40.
This story was originally published March 11, 2019 at 8:26 PM with the headline "Man goes to pick up final paycheck — and pulls gun on ex-coworkers, Calif. cops say."
