Gunman at Indiana office was hurt in ‘love triangle’

Associated Press

GOSHEN, Ind. — The suicidal factory worker who gunned down a co-worker and wounded six others was involved in a "love triangle" at work, co-workers and police said Friday.

Robert Wissman, 36, was having a problem with a male employee over a female co-worker, Police Chief Terry Schollian said. Neither employee was among those wounded, but police refused to release other details.

After telling his boss he had not slept in three days, Wissman was asked to leave the Nu-Wood Decorative Millwork factory Thursday. He came back twice, the second time with a gun.

Wissman fired 16 rounds, wounding other employees and killing manager Greg Oswald before taking his own life, police said.

Workers described a scene of horror, saying Wissman fired haphazardly and did not aim at co-workers standing just a few feet away.

"It was just chaos — people screaming and running, shots being fired," Rutledge said.

Misty Rushing said she sought cover under a desk in a small office when the shooting began.

"I just saw him standing there with a shotgun, and I hit the floor," she told The Indianapolis Star. "You couldn’t hear anyone screaming. He was just firing. He was just loading and unloading, loading and unloading."

Nu-Wood production manager Ed Rutledge said Wissman was involved in a "love triangle" and had been "acting funny" in the week before the shootings.

"I could see it in his eyes. There was something going on in his head," said Rutledge, 41.

Wissman was a registered gun dealer who ran a business from his home, though he mostly focused on gun repairs, said Chris Sadowski of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms in Columbus, Ohio.

"He was a very low volume dealer. He sold very few weapons during the course of his business," Sadowski said. Wissman filed for bankruptcy protection in 1998, according to court records.

Oswald had three children and a stepson. His former wife, Missy Oswald, told The Goshen News that Oswald was a "great father."

"He was always there for his children," she said.