The gunman who shot three of his co-workers at a Wisconsin IT firm on Wednesday had his concealed carry-permit revoked more than a decade ago after police said he was acting paranoid and delusional, authorities said.
Anthony Tong was killed by police after opening fire at WTS Paradigm’s offices in Middleton. Three people were hospitalized with serious injuries. A fourth was grazed by a bullet but did not need medical attention.
No one was killed in Wednesday’s morning rampage.
As investigators work to uncover a motive for the shooting, more information about the gunman has been released.
According to authorities, a judge in South Dakota revoked Tong’s concealed carry-permit in late 2004 after he had complained to police that his co-workers were ‘talking bad about him’. Court documents reveal that police were called to Tong’s apartment in August of that year for a disabled fire alarm.
Middleton Police Chief Chuck Foulke said Friday that Anthony Tong’s concealed carry-permit was revoked in 2004 by a South Dakota judge
Anthony Tong, 43, has been named as the man who opened fire inside the offices of software firm WTS Paradigm in Wisconsin on Wednesday, wounding three before being killed by cops
Tong admitted to officers that he had disabled it. He was handcuffed and police confiscated a handgun, an AR-15 assault rifle and ammunition.
He told cops that he had the weapons for his protection, and said some of his co-workers were talking about him. Tong did not elaborate on what he meant.
Tong was taken to a hospital’s mental unit on a 24-hour hold. Later that year, a judge revoked his permit meaning he could not legally purchasing a firearm, authorities said.
In addition to trying to determine a motive, detectives are working to track down the origin of the gun Tong used in Wednesday’s attack.
Middleton Police Chief Chuck Foulke said Friday that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is working on tracking the weapon, but said there is ‘something unique’ about the gun that is making the work difficult. Foulke wouldn’t elaborate.
Police say Tong, 43, had no criminal history in the state of Wisconsin and, despite carrying out a raid on his home on Thursday, they still have no motive for the crime.
A woman is escorted from the software company’s offices after the shooting. All three people taken to hospital are now in serious but stable condition
Video courtesy of Fox6Now
‘I’m dying to know the motive,’ Middleton Police Chief Chuck Foulke said told reporters Thursday. ‘We just have not found one yet.’
Megan McDonough and boyfriend Sawyer Smith live four doors down from Tong and saw the raid happening on Thursday.
McDonough told Channel 3000: ‘It blows my mind. I’m at a loss for words. It just all happened so fast.
‘He has a fenced-in yard. We never saw any pets or kids or anything.
‘People snap. You don’t know what is going on in people’s minds. Thank God it didn’t happen here.’
Foulke would not reveal what was found at Tong’s home, but said that he lived alone.
Three people were taken to hospital following the shooting, with one originally listed in critical condition and two in serious.
Officers carried out raids on Tong’s house, which is around six miles from the firm’s offices, but say they still have not discovered a motive
Tong wounded three people seriously and another who was grazed by a bullet before two police officers opened fire, killing him
Police say all three are now in serious condition after one improved. A fourth person was grazed by a bullet but required no hospital treatment.
Foulke said investigators had interviewed two of those victims. He did not say what they divulged but called the conversations ‘really important interviews.’ The victims’ names haven’t been released.
WTS Paradigm officials issued a statement Wednesday saying the incident was shocking and heartbreaking, but the company provided no further information.
Officers were called to WTS Paradigm in Middleton, a Madison suburb of about 17,440 people, just before 10:30am Wednesday.
Foulke said officers arrived within 8 minutes of receiving emergency calls and found a man wielding a semiautomatic pistol. Foulke said the man was carrying extra magazines as well.
Two Middleton officers and two Dane County sheriff’s deputies exchanged gunfire with Tong, killing him. The officers and deputies were not hurt, Foulke said.
The police chief said he didn’t know if the victims were targeted or shot at random. He added that federal authorities are tracing the history of the pistol to determine how Tong acquired it.
WTS Paradigm makes software for the building products industry. A Wisconsin State Journal profile from 2014 listed company employment at about 145 workers and noted the company was looking to move to a larger location at the time.
The company has posted You Tube videos depicting a loose atmosphere in an upscale office marked by a breakroom that resembles a bar, a ping-pong table and a shuffleboard table, and workers in jeans and sweatshirts.
One video depicts an office Olympics in which workers compete by pedaling themselves around in their chairs and toss garbage in wastebaskets.
Another video touts the company’s charity contributions, including donations to the Madison Children’s Museum, the American Diabetes Association and Habitat for Humanity.