The man accused by police of killing two people and injuring a third in a shooting at a hotel restaurant attached to the Oneida Nation casino in Ashwaubenon, Wis., previously was the subject of a restraining order from a former employee who accused him of making violent threats.
Brown County Sheriff Todd Delain told reporters at a news conference that 62-year-old Bruce Pofahl was previously accused of sending threatening emails and texts to a female former co-worker he previously supervised at the same restaurant where Saturday’s attack occurred, according to the Green Bay Press Gazette.
Pofahl was allowed to keep his personal firearm after a court did not find “clear and convincing evidence that the respondent may use a firearm to cause physical harm to another or to endanger public safety,” according to the newspaper.
Pofahl was killed Saturday by police outside of the Duck Creek Kitchen + Bar at the Radisson Hotel attached to the Oneida Casino in Ashwaubenon. Authorities say Pofahl opened fire in his former workplace with a 9 mm handgun with the intent of targeting an employee who was not at the restaurant at the time.
Pofahl was fired from the restaurant earlier this year and banned from the premises.
“He was targeting a specific victim who was not there, but he decided to still shoot some of the victim’s friends or co-workers, it appears,” a police official said of the shooting.