On May 26, Samuel Cassidy, 57, killed nine co-workers before committing suicide. New evidence has emerged from Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA), where Cassidy was employed, reporting that he had four separate incidents with co-workers prior to the shooting.
According to CNN, in January 2020, he got into a verbal altercation with an employee. One employee stated, “He [Cassidy] scares me. If someone was to go postal, it’d be him.” VTA said the employee would not name the source of the comment. When responding to the employee’s comment, VTA claimed that “nothing in Cassidy’s disciplinary history, or additional information [that] explain[ed] or support[ed] that concern.”
In July 2019, Cassidy was also sent home without pay for two days for “insubordination,” after he refused to adhere to VTA policy in signing out a two-way radio necessary for his job. In October 2020, he also refused to attend a mandatory CPR recertification class, according to VTA said. There was “no ultimate resolution” despite a number of reasonable accommodations.
Additionally, in November 2020, he was disciplined for unexcused leave and improper radio communication and inappropriately using a VTA two-way radio for personal communication rather than for operational matters, which is against VTA policy.” He then left work without permission.
Cassidy, who worked for VTA for twenty years, left no note or explanation as to why he shot his co-workers, but investigators found a consistent theme in his past: He hated his workplace. Cassidy shot 39 rounds in total.
According to ABC7, a survivor of the shooting said that from his vantage point, it looked like the gunman didn’t fire indiscriminately. Rather, he let some people live and chose to kill others.
Cassidy’s alleged violence did not begin on May 26. His ex-girlfriend also accused him of raping and abusing her.