9 Investigates: How common are workplace shootings?

Monday’s deadly workplace shooting in Orange County is the first mass work-related shooting in Florida in the last four years.

John Robert Neumann Jr., 45, fatally shot Robert Snyder, 69, Kevin Lawson, 46, Brenda Montanez-Crespo, 44, Kevin Clark, 53, and Jeff Roberts, 57, before turning the gun on himself shortly after 8 a.m. at Fiamma Inc., a manufacturer awnings for of recreational vehicles on Forsyth Road near Hanging Moss Road, deputies said.

Data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows an average of 500 workplace homicides each year, and about 2 million incidents of workplace violence each year.

According to the bureau, 77 percent of all fatal workplace incidents involve a firearm, while only 14 percent involve multiple fatalities.

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The last work-related homicide to take place in Florida happened in 2013 in Lake Butler, when Hubert Allen Jr. drove around on a Saturday, targeting former co-workers, killing two and wounding two others.

"They happen because this is the world we live in," said security expert Zach Hudson of Grantham Systems.  “It is up to the company to take steps. When you terminate a person, what protocols are you taking to prevent that person from coming back on property?"

Hudson said companies have focused on physical barriers to prevent violence, but need to make employees aware when there is a possible issue.

He said employees need to be trained on how to deal with a deadly situation, where exits are located and where to go to shelter in place.

“It’s really a collective security thought process. You are trying to educate people that this person could be a threat,” said Hudson.

Cox Media Group