Just Defending Myself or Violence in the Workplace?

Abstract

Rachael Montgomery, a Certified Nursing Home Administrator, arrived at work at the Charlotte Nursing Home and noticed that things certainly did not look normal. The parking lot was full of police cars and upset neighbors from surrounding homes. The nursing home prided itself on being located on the "nice" side of town where incidents involving gunfire were not supposed to happen. The advertising brochure for the nursing home emphasized the "safe" location and the "prominence" of the neighborhood. Through talking with the police, Rachael discovered that an employee had been involved in an incident involving a gun being shot multiple times and carried into the nursing home.

From talking with the police, Rachael discovered what happened in the early morning hours. Mary Jackson, a manager over two departments at the nursing home, had parallel parked her car on a street adjacent to the facility. As she was getting out of her car, a young black man approached her car and grabbed the driver's door. He pointed a gun at her face and demanded her pocketbook. As Mary reached back into the car, the gunman thought she was getting her purse but instead she pulled out a 9mm handgun. She pointed it as his face and he continued to point his gun at her face. Both seemed shaken by this experience and ran in opposite directions. Mary ran toward the nursing home. As she reached the doors, shots rang out as the perpetrator fired several shots at her. She entered the building carrying the loaded gun, her pocketbook, and car keys.