Worker at Fort Knox Kills 3, Then Shoots Himself
I worked a block from where this happened, although in Oct 1993 I was about a mile from the scene. I knew each of those shot and the shooter.
Worker at Fort Knox Kills 3, Then Shoots Himself
Published: October 19, 1993
The authorities said a civilian Army base supply clerk, whose temporary promotion to supervisor recently ended, killed his boss and two co-workers and severely wounded two others today.
The clerk, Arthur Hill, then drove 40 miles from Fort Knox to the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Louisville, walked to the restroom and shot himself in the head with the .38-caliber gun he used in the slayings, the authorities said. Mr. Hill was in critical condition, a spokeswoman said.
Mr. Hill, 53, and all five victims were civilian employees at Fort Knox, which is home of the nation's gold repository and an Army tank training center.
One victim, Paul W. Higdon, 49, of Louisville, was chief of the Training Support Center, with 30 years in the civil service. His son, Jason, said Mr. Hill had just learned that he was passed up for a promotion.
"He found out, I believe, this morning when he got to work," Jason Higdon said in a telephone interview from Louisville.
Laurie Viggiano, a Fort Knox spokeswoman, said she could not say whether a supervisor's position had been vacant or whether Mr. Hill had been filling in for an employee on leave.
Mr. Hill reported to work Monday morning. The shootings occurred at least an hour later, Lieut. Col. Kevin Kelley said. In Good Standing
Colonel Kelley said Mr. Hill, an Army veteran who had worked at the center for 11 years, had not filed any grievances and had been an employee in good standing.
Marla Highbaugh, a spokeswoman for the V.A. hospital said Mr. Hill had entered the hospital and asked directions to a bathroom but stopped at an automatic teller machine. A shot was heard about a half-hour later, she said.
She said Mr. Hill had been treated for medical problems at the hospital but had never been admitted.
A neighbor of Mr. Hill's in Radcliff, about 10 miles from Fort Knox, said Hill loved children and coached youth football for many years.
"He's a good man," said Truddy Telfare. "He's a good person. I don't believe this. Something must have set him off."
The police said Mr. Hill was married and had three grown children.
Fort Knox holds about 147 million troy ounces, or 12,250,000 pounds, of gold. The shooting took place about three miles from the gold repository. The base covers about 109,000 acres and has 32,000 civilian and military employees.
The other dead were identified as Deborah Glenn, 36, a general supply specialist who had been there nine years, and Wanda M. Simmons, 45, of Rockhaven, a general supply specialist with nine years' experience.
The wounded were both in critical condition with chest wounds at University Hospital in Louisville, said a spokeswoman, Gayle Jewitt.
