Byline: KELLY KENNEDY THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE
Copyright 1999, THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE
KSL building employees are questioning whether a better response by security after a woman walked into the building and began shooting Jan. 14 could have prevented AT&T employee Anne Sleater's death.
"[Security] never made an announcement," said Jeff Crane, a finance representative for Allen Communication on the fifth floor. "They did not notify the rest of us that there was someone in the building with a gun."
De-Kieu Duy, 24, has been charged with killing Sleater, 30, a new mother who died seven days after the shooting. Police say Duy, who has a history of mental illness, claimed KSL employees had been harassing her.
An emergency 911 phone-call log shows the first call from first-floor KSL Television was made at 3:20 p.m. Fourth-floor AT&T employees made their first call 12 minutes later.
Every AT&T employee interviewed by Salt Lake City police the day of the shooting said they did not know Duy was in the building until she was on the fourth floor, even though it took her at least 10 minutes to get there, according to police reports.
Some workers feel more should have been done to alert and protect employees in the building. Among the concerns: A security guard on the third floor did not lock elevators or use his cell phone to notify tenants of the threat.
The guard was standing on a third-floor balcony overlooking the first-floor reception area. Police reports show the guard immediately called the building's command center before moving third-floor workers off to safety.
Tony Tingey, general manager of LaSalle Partners, which manages the Triad Center, refused to comment on the building's security measures.
Public criticism of security by AT&T employees has been quashed by a company mandate against speaking to the news media.
Police say Duy carried a bag of bullets and a 9 mm pistol into the building, then insisted on talking to a reporter. When the first-floor receptionist refused, Duy started firing.
Crane said he was in the stairwell near the third floor when he heard shooting.
"I ran back upstairs to the fifth floor to warn everyone to get down," he said. "Unfortunately, she got off the elevator on the fourth floor."
Police say Duy shot KSL building manager Brent Wightman, who was grazed by two bullets, on the first floor, then entered the elevator. She roamed KSL offices on the second floor, firing at people. Then she got back on the elevator and got off on the fourth floor, again firing randomly.
Many fourth-floor employees told police they heard the shots -- describing them as a loud crash, like a chalkboard dropping or a balloon popping -- but didn't realize what was happening.
Most went on with their work even as Duy walked past in the hallway outside their offices, heading toward Sleater's office.
Ben Porter, who was with Sleater when she was shot, told police he didn't know anything was going on until the suspect appeared in the doorway with a gun. He could not be reached for comment.
"I don't think you can prevent someone from going postal, but there might have been a way to contain her -- to keep her from accessing the second and fourth floors," Crane said.
Dick Abels, the national spokesman for AT&T, said the company uses pass cards to get into the offices in the Triad Center, and they felt confident the building was secure.
"We have had and still have a very secure building at AT&T," he said. "I know everyone within AT&T did exactly what they were supposed to do that day."
AT&T advises employees to do exactly what a person with a gun requests.
When the suspect entered the fourth-floor AT&T reception area, she told the man substituting for the receptionist to open the door with his pass card while she held a gun to his head. He did.
The substitute did not know there was a woman in the building with a gun until she pointed it at him, according to police reports.
Crane said visitors must now go to a main command center to gain entrance to the Triad Center, which includes the KSL building, and guests must be escorted by someone who works there.
Many other Salt Lake businesses have either re-evaluated or increased their security since the shooting.
Julie Hogan, marketing director for the ZCMI Center, said the mall's emergency plan calls for each vendor to call another vendor to let them know what's going on.
"We haven't brought that up-to-date, but we're talking about it -- starting to rethink what we're doing," she said.
Dennis Terrell, building manager for the City Centre building on 200 South in Salt Lake City, feels confident with pass cards and security guards.
He said he doesn't intend to add to security measures for the building, which houses law and investment firms.
"This building was secure before the shooting," he said. "But we've briefed everyone that it could happen anywhere."
Salt Lake Police Lt. Phil Kirk said there have been 10 to 15 calls to his office since the shooting from businesses that want to improve their own security.
"We're very much interested in working with people to prevent a crime," he said, "so we don't have to help them with a tragedy."
* Copyright 1990-2000, The Salt Lake Tribune
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