Slayings Latest in Workplace Assaults : Violence: Experts blame available guns, hard times, media violence, changing society.

The killing of two workers at the Design-It store was just the latest in a series of workplace-related shootings in the Southland in recent years.

Experts say the phenomenon reflects the increased violence in society in general. The easy availability of guns, economic hard times and violence in the media can contribute to ignite an already vulnerable person, they said.

“More people in general in the country are using the workplace as a site to vent out their rage,” said Michael Mantell, a San Diego specialist in police psychology.

Homicide is the third-leading cause of death at the workplace, Mantell said, after auto and machinery accidents.

“You see kids being raised with no family values, without anyone to help them cope with anger, and we load them up with violence from television and books,” Mantell said.

Dr. Judd Marmor, former president of the American Psychiatric Assn., said the “home and the workplace are where people spend most of their lives, and that’s the source of most of their frustration. The workplace is the place is where one’s life and hope are centered.”

In economic hard times, where layoffs and wage cuts are common, the potential for violence in the workplace increases.

“Right now, we are in a recession,” said Dr. Saul. J. Faerstein, a UCLA clinical professor. “I can definitely tell you that when economic times are bad, crime increases. You have economic crime from people who are desperate and you have violent crime from people who are frustrated.”

Employers and authorities need to examine factors such as relationships between managers and employees and working environments for sources of potential violence, experts said.

At least four incidents have occurred in Orange County in recent years.

* In February, janitor Jonathan Daniel D’Arcy, enraged over a late $150 paycheck, allegedly poured gasoline on a bookkeeper and set her on fire. * In May, ex-postal worker Mark Richard Hilbun walked into the Dana Point post office and allegedly killed a co-worker. He also is charged with killing his mother in her home and wounding five others in a two-day bloody rampage. He had been fired for stalking a female co-worker. * In July, 1991, a painter at Fairview Developmental Center in Costa Mesa, who was angry with admnistrators for ignoring tensions in his division, shot and killed a facilities supervisor and injured two others. * In April 1986, a state Employment Development Department worker gunned down his boss and then killed himself in an office in Garden Grove. “I hope this will alleviate lot of stress from my co-workers and set them free,” read the note found in the breast pocket of Fidel Gonzalez Jr. Of course, violence in the office is not confined to Orange County. * Last week, Gian Luigi Ferri, blaming a law firm for his financial trouble, went into a San Francisco high-rise and killed eight people, wounded six others and killed himself as police moved in. * Last December, a disgruntled General Dynamics employee, fired for habitual tardiness and absences, shot to death a labor negotiator and injured his former supervisor. * In June 1001, a laid-off worker at a Miramar electronics firm killed two executives. * In February, 1988, a heavily armed Richard Farley shot his way into Sunnyvale defense contractor ESL Inc., where he had been fired for harassing a co-worker. The rampage left seven people dead and three injured and was made into a television movie. * In 1986, a part-time postal employee in Oklahoma entered a post office and killed 14 co-workers before turning the gun on himself.