August 21, 2019
Screenshot/Google Street View
A view of offices at Plainville Farms in Adams County, Pennsylvania, where a man allegedly killed his former boss and then himself one day after being fired.
An independent trucking contractor allegedly shot and killed his supervisor, and then himself, in Central Pennsylvania one day after he was fired from his job.
Phillip Michael Hughes, 75, of North Carolina, was seen driving back and forth in the parking lot early Wednesday morning at the Adams County distribution center where he'd formerly worked, according to police. John Frey, 58, of York, Pennsylvania, was the transportation director at the Plainville Farms Distribution Center where Hughes worked, until Frey fired Hughes on Tuesday, police said.
When Frey arrived in the parking lot just after 5:20 a.m. Wednesday morning, Hughes pulled up beside Frey's vehicle and parked, The two then exited their vehicles, according to police. Hughes then confronted Frey, and shot him twice in the head with a Smith & Wesson revolver, according to police. Hughes then shot himself.
The Adams County Coroner pronounced both men dead just before 6 a.m., according to police.
Plainville Farms, a New York-based farm and food company which raises turkeys and sells turkey products, issued a statement on the shooting Wednesday afternoon:
"The Plainville Farms family experienced a terrible, senseless tragedy at our Distribution Center in New Oxford early this morning. Plainville Farms is working closely with law enforcement in their investigation of this fatal incident that involved a manager at Plainville and an independent contractor.
"Plainville Farms is a family and we are in mourning. Counseling will be provided to all of our employees to help with the healing process. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families that have been affected by this tragedy."
Last week, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf signed an executive order aimed at reducing gun violence across the state. The order, among other things, established an Office of Gun Violence Prevention within the state's Commission on Crime and Delinquency, and established a Division of Violence Prevention within the state's Department of Health.
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