The suburban New York supermarket employee who was accused of fatally shooting one of his managers and wounding several others reportedly had a history of harassment and aggression towards colleagues, and had a meeting with his supervisor about switching to a different job site less than an hour before he opened fire, officials said Wednesday.
Gabriel DeWitt Wilson, 31, appeared before a Long Island judge Wednesday morning to face one assassination attempt and four attempted murders, Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas and police officers said at a subsequent news conference. He was ordered to be held without bail.
Shortly after 11:15 a.m. Tuesday, Wilson entered the management office on the second floor of a West Hempstead Stop & Shop and fired his gun seven times and five different people inside Nassau County Police Det. Lt. Stephen Fitzpatrick said Wednesday. Three people aged 26, 49 and 50 were injured. The 49-year-old, a man identified by police as Ray Wishropp, could not be rescued.
Gabriel DeWitt Wilson
(Nassau County PD)
‘This is his job. He collects shopping carts there, ”Fitzpatrick said.
Wilson reportedly had a “quiet” meeting with his one of his supervisors, the 50-year-old man, at around 10:30 on Tuesday, when he asked them if he wanted to switch to a different retail location.
“Yesterday he went to talk to that West Hempstead manager to ask what the process would be because he wanted to switch,” Fitzpatrick said.
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Earlier in the press conference, Fitzpatrick described the meeting as “non-confrontational” and lasted only one to two minutes.
“He left the building without any violence or saying anything,” he continued. “He returned to the building forty minutes later, and you know the rest.”
Police said they have not yet recovered the .380-caliber semi-automatic handgun that they suspect used in the shooting.
Fitzpatrick called Wilson a “troubled employee” who was accused of “making unwanted advances on women at work.” Colleagues also claimed “that he had disputes with other employees and threatened them and had been taken to the management office several times,” Fitzpatrick said.
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Police said Wilson fled the store on foot after the shooting and was taken into custody hours later in an apartment building in Hempstead, New York. He tried to run through the first floor of the building, but was stopped by officers from Hempstead who had barricaded the doors.
“He was trapped like a mouse,” said Patrick Ryder, Nassau County Police Commissioner.
Emergency services operate at the scene of a Stop & Shop supermarket shooting, Tuesday, April 20, 2021, in West Hempstead, New York. A gunman shot three workers in the office of a supermarket manager in Long Island. Tuesday, the police said. (AP Photo / Mary Altaffer)
Ryder said Wilson’s criminal history dates back to 2006 and includes assault, attempted narcotics distribution and a murder charge as a result of a 2014 shootout in Baltimore in which Wilson was shot in the head, Ryder said. At the time, Wilson was also charged with criminal possession of a firearm.
Ryder added that local politicians, clergy, and community members came forward with tips and offers for help in the search for Wilson.
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“The men and women in law enforcement have [been] challenged every day for the past year and a half, ‘he said. In Nassau County you saw the cooperation between the community and the police. It was the collaboration between law enforcement agencies in Nassau County, the 18 villages and two cities, we all worked together. “
Wilson is due to appear in court on Friday and will face 25 years to life if convicted on the highest charges.