Background: The United Rentals building in Manassas, Virginia, where the shooting occurred (WUSA/YouTube). Inset: Marvin Grant (Manassas City Police Department).
A man in Virginia walked into his workplace and announced that multiple people were going to die before opening fire and following through on that threat, law enforcement officials say.
Marvin Grant, 37, shot and killed 48-year-old Ricky Lamot and 33-year-old Christopher Serrano, the Manassas City Police Department announced. A third victim was wounded.
On Wednesday morning, Grant showed up at United Rentals in Manassas, Virginia, a city about 30 miles southwest of Washington, D.C. The company states that it is “the largest equipment rental company in the world,” with locations in “49 states and ten Canadian provinces.”
Grant “made a statement to a co-worker that “three people are going to die,'” Manassas Police Chief Doug Keen recalled during a press conference attended by regional CBS affiliate WUSA. “He then produced a handgun and began shooting.”
Police said they got a call at about 7:10 a.m. “for a shooting at United Rentals” on Wellington Road in the northern Virginia City. Minutes later, officers found three victims.
The victims were brought to a local hospital, where Lamot and Serrano were pronounced dead. The third victim remained hospitalized as of Wednesday afternoon “in stable condition,” police said.
Arriving officers realized that the suspect — Grant — had already left the area in a silver Toyota Camry. They searched for him and learned that his phone was in Harrisonburg, Virginia, about 100 miles southwest.
At about 8:20 a.m., Virginia State Police began searching for Grant, and a trooper reportedly spotted his vehicle. Police said the vehicle pulled into a rest area, and troopers tried to make a traffic stop.
“The suspect exited his vehicle, then returned to his vehicle, and continued driving southbound on Interstate 81,” police said. Troopers followed.
Several miles later, Grant “pulled over on the side of the interstate and exited the vehicle with a firearm pointed at his head.” Authorities — including a negotiator — tried to speak with him, but at about 10:30 a.m., he reportedly shot himself.
Grant was taken to an area hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Grant was a relatively new worker at United Rentals, according to authorities, and other co-workers were apparently stunned by the shooting.
Keen said on Wednesday that police had not yet determined a motive for the attack.
