Colleagues Mourn 7 Who Died in Shooting at Technology Firm
More than 100 people filed into St. Joseph’s Church on Wednesday to honor the seven victims of a workplace shooting and remember an event that forever changed this town.
St. Joseph’s became a refuge for those fleeing the gunfire on Dec. 26, 2000.
Prosecutors say Michael McDermott, a 42-year-old software engineer, gunned down seven of his colleagues because he was angry that Edgewater Technology was about to start withholding wages to pay his back taxes.
Jim Herman, who worked at Edgewater until a month before the shooting, came to mourn his former colleagues. “I know what I feel. It must be 10 times worse” for the families, he said.
Local residents joined victims’ family members and co-workers at the service Wednesday, reciting Psalms and singing hymns in their memory. As they filed out of the church and walked back to work, some Edgewater workers left flowers.
McDermott’s lawyer has said he will use an insanity defense.
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