A Year Later, Caltrans Remembers Tragedy

Thomas Carranco is going to have a tough day at work today.

At 9 a.m., he will be asked to again remember a day when a former colleague walked into the Caltrans Batavia Maintenance Station in Orange and opened fire, wildly, with an AK-47 assault rifle, killing four workers.

“It’s been hard,” said Carranco, 56.

Carranco, who said he is still haunted by the tragic assault, went to the yard the day of the shooting but was not allowed inside by police.

A maintenance supervisor, Carranco will join more than 900 California Department of Transportation officials and employees today in a brief moment of silence to remember the fallen workers.

“Never in my whole career have we gone through anything like this,” said Carranco, a 35-year Caltrans employee who was sought out for informal counseling by workers. “Some of these younger employees came to me during the year. They were having a hard time dealing with the situation and I would sit and talk with them.”

Carranco said he mostly listened to their fears and frustrations and offered them common-sense advice. But with each conversation, the day of the attack came right back.

The four killed were maintenance supervisor Hal B. Bierlein, 51; lead worker Wayne Bowers, 43; heavy equipment operator Michael Kelley, 49; and equipment operator Paul White, 30.

They were shot to death after former Caltrans worker Arturo Reyes Torres, 51, drove through the front gate of the maintenance yard Dec. 18, 1997, and started firing.

Torres first shot and killed Bierlein, who was his former supervisor, and then walked around an office trailer and fired more than 70 bullets, killing the other three employees.

He wounded two others, including another Caltrans employee and an Orange police officer, before being killed within a block of the yard during a gun battle with police.

Rose Orem, a Caltrans spokeswoman, said today’s observance is to help the Caltrans family “keep in mind that this was a terrible tragedy, and that we don’t want to see it repeated.”

Since the shooting, two lawsuits have been filed against Torres’ estate by victims’ relatives. The latest, filed this week by Bowers’ widow, Nancy, and her two children, also lists Caltrans as a defendant.

The lawsuit accuses Caltrans of gross negligence for failing to warn employees about Torres, who was “bitter and distraught” over his termination and was “dangerous and violent” as a result.

According to the lawsuit, Bierlein had notified Caltrans supervisors that Torres was stalking him. Yet the agency allegedly failed to take reasonable measures to safeguard its employees.

It was the first time Orem had heard of a so-called stalking incident. But she declined further comment on the lawsuit, referring inquiries to Caltrans’ legal department in Los Angeles. An attorney assigned the case was not available for comment.

Nancy Bowers’ attorney, Thomas N. Luebke of Orange, said an investigation by his office turned up the alleged stalking incident and subsequent notification of superiors.

“There is some evidence indicating he made threats and was stalking or following Mr. Bierlein,” said Luebke, who did not wish to go into detail.

Nancy Bowers, said Luebke, will not participate in any observance.

“She’s out of town,” he said. “She wants to get away from the situation.”

Since the shooting, Caltrans officials have concentrated on developing programs to improve communication between management and employees.

For example, managers now must attend workshops on conflict resolution and identifying personnel problems.

“We’re trying to resolve issues before they escalate,” Orem said.

Security at field offices also was increased, Orem said. The Batavia maintenance yard, for example, now has a security guard and there has been increased security throughout the district, she said.

The maintenance yard was scheduled for renovation before last year’s incident.