Law enforcement is giving some idea of the investigation process for Tuesday night's fatal shootings inside the Roundy's Distribution Center in Oconomowoc. But police aren't disclosing a motive yet.
Roundy's has identified the deceased workers as 39-year-old Kevin Schneider of Milwaukee and 51-year-old Kevin Kloth of Germantown. Law enforcement has also confirmed the identity of the apparent Roundy's shooter, who police say later committed suicide after being pursued by officers on Milwaukee's northwest side. Police say the suspect was 41-year-old Fraron Cornelius of Wauwatosa.
All three worked for Roundy's for at least 20 years, including some time working together, at the huge 1.2 million square feet warehouse. Police say the bodies of Kloth and Schneider were found in different sections of the building.
Cornelius was Black. Kloth and Schneider were white. During a news conference in Oconomowoc Thursday, law enforcement and Roundy's declined to answer reporters' questions about the motive for the killings, including whether the shootings were racially motivated, related to bullying or whether long hours at the job during the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to workplace stress.
Oconomowoc police said they've interviewed at least 144 of the roughly 800 warehouse workers.
Waukesha County Sheriff Eric Severson eventually took to the microphones to caution the news media that some of those interviews will probably need to be redone. He also said there is extensive security video to review and other work ahead.
"We always look back at the history of all of the people involved and try to find out what they were doing, what their thought processes were. We're going to be looking at social media, we're going to be getting tips and we're going to be getting information and questions and all of that information needs to be sorted out. And of course, we're going to look at anything that may give us information as to what might have motivated the individual to perform these acts as he did,” said Severson.
Severson went on to explain why law enforcement is giving limited specifics on what they already know: "Because, if we start talking about that and I need to interview somebody else who may have the same information, I do not want to bias that interview. I do not want to let them know what I know. I want them to tell me what they know.”
He said, essentially, his entire detective bureau is working on the Roundy's warehouse case, though he did not disclose the number of personnel. Severson said the Wisconsin Department of Justice has sent 15-20 detectives. The Oconomowoc Police Department and Milwaukee Police Department are also involved in the investigation.
