Worker gets drunk, shoots company server

[Sporkman]

Prosecutors: Mortgage worker got drunk, shot computer server

By bob mims
The Salt Lake Tribune
Updated Aug 25, 2010 06:43AM

A Salt Lake City mortgage company employee allegedly got drunk, opened fired on his firm’s computer server with a .45-caliber automatic, and then told police someone had stolen his gun and caused the damage...

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/home/50159264-76/campbell-computer-police-server.html.csp

[linux18]

nooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!
NOT THE SERVER!!!

[Sporkman]

nooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!
NOT THE SERVER!!!

$100K server at that.

[Dustin2128]

inquiring minds want to know: windows server or linux?

[NMFTM]

I heard about this on the radio while carpooling on the way to school this morning. Didn't hear where it happened though.

We joked that it was probably our IT teacher.

[jflaker]

Had to have been Windows...Linux would have just recompiled itself and kept going!

[renkinjutsu]

Everything mentioned on these forums can (one way or another) be traced back to xkcd...

I like this:

http://xkcd.com/705/

[Yvan300]

I lolled :D

[v1ad]

Everything mentioned on these forums can (one way or another) be traced back to xkcd...

I like this:

lol funny as hell

[Khakilang]

Anyway it is cheaper to reinstall Linux server compare to other OS.

[pwnst*r]

That has nothing to do with being drunk and everything to do with being a mental case.

[mr clark25]

i lolled...

that must have been one top-notch server to be worth $100k... i would like to see it...

[beercz]

Although the server was an expensive one, and at least no one got hurt (or worse), I still think this is a damn funny story. I think most of us have felt like doing something similar to a computer at one time or another.

I trust the mortgage company have a good backup!

[pwnst*r]

I guess I don't see the comedy of someone bringing a gun into the workplace, but that's just me.

[eriktheblu]

A lot of people bring guns to the workplace, but most of them don't do so while intoxicated.

[chriswyatt]

I don't like the idea of being drunk and carrying a gun. Even though I wouldn't consider myself a bad person I still wouldn't trust myself with both a gun and alcohol in my system.

Glad there aren't many guns here in the UK, at least not that I've noticed.

[pwnst*r]

A lot of people bring guns to the workplace, but most of them don't do so while intoxicated.

A lot? Maybe in your neck of the woods.

[gnomeuser]

Alcohol is legal, firearms are legal.. but going armed and drunk to your workplace does not seem to be the actions of a rational mind.

*mutters something about the dangers of alcohol compared to illegal substances of a green nature*

[gnomeuser]

A lot of people bring guns to the workplace, but most of them don't do so while intoxicated.

citation needed

[Grenage]

While I myself have often toyed with the idea of taking a chainsaw into our main server room, that's one unhinged individual.

I'm also pretty sure that this isn't the first news report involving someone shooting a server.

[linux18]

citation needed
this isn't wikipedia, here 'a lot of people' means 'I'

[Grenage]

this isn't wikipedia, here 'a lot of people' means 'I'

In what backwater fairyland does 'a lot of people' mean 'I'?

[linux18]

In what backwater fairyland does 'a lot of people' mean 'I'?
in the ubuntu forums :)

[eriktheblu]

citation neededNo objective source, just personal experience.

<edit: for the numerically minded, there are over 28,000 licensed citizens in my home state (roughly 1% of the population). Obviously, many of them (like me) are prohibited from exercising that license at work, but thousands of people fits my definition of 'a lot') http://www.ksag.org/files/CCH_Statistics_-_Chart2.PDF>

It's a small percent of the U.S. for certain, but I'd wager thousands of private citizens when permitted by the state carry weapons (I would, but they frown upon that sort of thing in the Army.). The majority of pawn shops I've visited have been staffed by armed individuals. It's not an uncommon practice in convenience stores/gas stations/liquor stores.

Beyond those who elect to carry weapons, many do so as part of their employment (security, police, etc.)

[Bachstelze]

"It's easy to solve the halting problem with a shotgun."

-- Larry Wall


He just took advice from a very wise guy.

[Random_Dude]

No objective source, just personal experience.

It's a small percent of the U.S. for certain, but I'd wager thousands of private citizens when permitted by the state carry weapons (I would, but they frown upon that sort of thing in the Army.). The majority of pawn shops I've visited have been staffed by armed individuals. It's not an uncommon practice in convenience stores/gas stations/liquor stores.

Beyond those who elect to carry weapons, many do so as part of their employment (security, police, etc.)

You're in the army, but they frown upon you carrying a gun?

I don't see why that guy would need a gun for his job, but maybe it's an American thing...

[eriktheblu]

You're in the army, but they frown upon you carrying a gun?A frequent observation. In certain circumstances the Army want's me to carry their gun, but the majority of the time I must go without. It's an involved topic that would quickly lose interest on this forum.


I don't see why that guy would need a gun for his job, but maybe it's an American thing...Realtors are likely more inclined to go armed than other industries. Their duties involve unaccompanied travel to unfamiliar places.

It's not just an American thing, but it might seem that way because we have fewer restrictions than most countries.

The issue here for me is not that he had a gun, but that he was intoxicated and destructive.

[linux18]

guns don't kill people, people kill people
OR
guns don't shoot servers, drunk disgruntled employees shoot servers

[Grenage]

Realtors are likely more inclined to go armed than other industries. Their duties involve unaccompanied travel to unfamiliar places.

I can only imagine the intimidating horror of surveying a property; why, a Davenport could attack at any moment.

[Random_Dude]

A frequent observation. In certain circumstances the Army want's me to carry their gun, but the majority of the time I must go without. It's an involved topic that would quickly lose interest on this forum.


It's still strange.
I'm assuming (and hopping) that you are more qualified to carry a gun than the drunken employee who shot the server.

[Sporkman]

I can only imagine the intimidating horror of surveying a property; why, a Davenport could attack at any moment.

Not at all - accompanying strangers into vacant houses for hour-long time periods is completely safe for lone real estate agents.

[Grenage]

Not at all - accompanying strangers into vacant houses for hour-long time periods is completely safe for lone real estate agents.

And yet, somehow, estate agents in the rest of the world manage to do their job without an armed escort, or getting raped and murdered.

I'll stop now, before it becomes another pro/con gun debate.

[Sporkman]

And yet, somehow, estate agents in the rest of the world manage to do their job without an armed escort, or getting raped and murdered.

I'll stop now, before it becomes another pro/con gun debate.

I'm not implying that real estate agents arming themselves is the answer. I was responding to your ridicule of the idea that agents face personal safety risks.

Yes, many real estate agents do their jobs without getting assaulted or murdered. Less than 100% though.

[eriktheblu]

I can only imagine the intimidating horror of surveying a property; why, a Davenport could attack at any moment.
A frequent criminal tactic is to lure people to remote areas with seemingly legitimate business for the purpose of robbery. It's more widely know with pizza delivery, but happens to realtors as well.


It's still strange.
I'm assuming (and hopping) that you are more qualified to carry a gun than the drunken employee who shot the server.
If he was licensed to carry (the article did not specify), only by virtue of my sobriety. Utah (along with most states) prohibits carrying while intoxicated. If you're referring to my military experience, it was not considered in my license application. The professionally armed typically are known to have a worse safety record than the amateurs.

Ultimately, it's a personal decision. Security policies that work for one individual will not work for another. I was merely trying to point out that it's not uncommon for a person to be armed during their hours of employment without shooting the server. This guy is an anomaly of society. If he had a carry license, it is likely to be revoked.