A 1955 Chrysler seen on display at the Walter P. Chrysler museum in Auburn Hills, Michigan. (Photo : Reuters )
Chrysler announced that its Jefferson North Assembly plant in Detroit is up and running again Friday, a day after a worker was stabbed to death by a coworker during a fight inside the plant Thursday morning.
The plant was closed for most of Thursday after the police determined it was safe for the plant workers to leave the building.
Like Us on Facebook
The 2.7 million-square-foot plant on Detroit's east side assembles the Jeep Grand Cherokee and Dodge Durango while employing close to 2,900 people.
The Thursday morning altercation took place between Keith Readus and Jeff Hunter reportedly over a feud between the two over Hunter's wife. Hunter stabbed Readus at 8 a.m. in the loading dock area of the plant before leaving the scene.
It didn't take long for police officials to find Hunter, who was found dead at 11:30 a.m. in a parked Jeep at nearby Belle Isle with at least one self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. The plant, which was built in 1991, does not allow weapons inside the facility, but does not have metal detectors.
"Chrysler is deeply saddened by the events that occurred at Jefferson North this morning," said Scott Garberding, Chrysler's Senior Vice President to The Detroit News. "This is a tragic incident, and our hearts go out to all the families involved."
Production was stopped completely as soon as the incident came to light, but the company requested that all employees scheduled to work the 6 a.m. shift on Friday report to the plant on time. Grief counselors will be on hand however to help those dealing with the tragedy.
Eight homicides in automobile manufacturing plants have occurred since 1997 according to the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics. Among those incidents was a shooting in Chrysler's Toledo North Assembly plant in January 2005 when a repairman shot three supervisors, killing one, before taking his own life.
