SAN FRANCISCO (CN) — On the morning of June 14, 2017, 38 year-old Jimmy Lam strolled into work at a United Parcel Service distribution center in San Francisco, went up to a third-floor meeting of fellow drivers and wordlessly opened fire.
He shot Benson Louie, 50, execution-style in the head, then 56 year-old Wayne Chan in the back as his co-workers ran for cover. Lam then walked outside, where he shot and killed Mike Lefiti, 46.
As police officers descended on the facility, Lam turned the gun on himself. Authorities recovered two stolen guns, including one Mac 10-style machine pistol, from the scene along with a backpack containing ammunition.
Three months later, families of the victims and two UPS employees who were wounded but survived sued UPS and the security company it hired to protect the premises. A San Francisco judge consolidated nine individual lawsuits, and the case finally went to trial in early November.
The plaintiffs claim Lam, a 18-year UPS veteran, set off the building’s metal detector that morning, but that the alarm was disregarded and he was allowed in. The victims’ attorneys have argued at trial that such security lapses were commonplace.
Kyle Burton, who worked as a security manager for UPS, said last week that Allied guards were well aware that San Francisco was a “clean in/clean out” site, which meant they were supposed to check all employee IDs, inspect all bags for contraband, and wand everyone as they came and went.
Under direct examination by plaintiffs’ attorney Joshua White, Burton told the jury that guards would often shirk their duties and allow certain employees in without showing their IDs and ignoring the metal detector. He said guards were caught sleeping at their posts "on many occasions."
“Did you ever observe any of the guards on their cellphones at their posts?” White asked.
“Yes,” Burton said.
White then asked: “Did you ever observe vacant posts?"
Burton, who testified from his living room via Zoom, replied, “That was one of the biggest issues I had with the guards the entire time there.”
One November 2015 email Burton sent to Thomas Nichols, the security supervisor in charge of San Francisco, revealed his mounting frustration.
"The guards were instructed this morning to follow the clean in/clean out routine. They were also told to do the noncompliance form and 100% ID check. Every guard failed at this task,” Burton wrote. “I reviewed with the guards the procedures once again and told them the mistakes they made during observation. They are fully aware of what they are supposed to be doing now.”
Burton left the job in early 2016 after just a few months. “I left because I did not feel safe there,” he said.
Security consultant Bruce Ramm testified Monday that UPS had hired Allied to “protect life and property” at the facility. Guard instructions, or “post orders” as they’re called in the business, required guards to follow access control procedures like denying entry to unauthorized personnel, verifying IDs and checking bags.
“If guards are known as just easygoing or not really enforcing polices or procedures, people are definitely going to take advantage of it and they'll definitely try to get away with what they can. It's important that guards be consistent,” Ramm said.
The instructions also expressly forbade “firearms, weapons, intoxicants, cameras or other harmful materials on the property without prior authority.”
White asked, “Is it incumbent on Allied's guards to prevent any of these items from entering the building?”
Ramm answered, “Yes. It's pretty easy to read.”
He also reviewed security footage from that morning where a guard named Stiver Bushgjokaj was posted at the entrance Lam used. Ramm said it didn’t look like Bushgjokaj was doing his job.
“There were people coming in and out and he didn't position himself at the metal detector for anybody. He was sitting down and as far as people bringing things in, he never did a bag inspection or have anyone go through the metal detector,” Ramm said. “There was a whole variety of things that didn't comply with the post order.”
Instead, Bushgjokaj was seen chatting with a UPS employee, a member of the security team. Ramm was likewise critical of the employee, saying he “should have mentioned something to Stiver about working at his post.”
On cross-examination, Allied counsel Shawn Toliver tried to establish the San Francisco facility as clean out only, meaning UPS only really cared about employees stealing packages, especially when they contained pricey Apple products. He noted that the facility overhauled its security protocols after the shooting but that the guards did not believe it was their job prior to June 14, 2017, to wand employees and check their bags on entry.
He asked Ramm about a video from that day showing employees leaving the building. The camera was positioned to show peoples’ faces as they left, but just the back of their heads as they entered.
“Wouldn't that indicate to you that UPS had a concern about theft?” Toliver asked.
Ramm answered, “I don't know why the camera was faced that way.”
White objected strenuously throughout cross-examination, insisting Toliver repeatedly misstated the evidence, particularly one email between Nichols and his boss in which Nichols wrote, “When employees exit they must put their bag through the metal detector. If it alerts they must empty all contents.”
“Isn’t it true that Nichols reported that there's no such requirements for entering?” Toliver asked.
White said Toliver’s line of questioning was misleading, since he chose to focus on only two lines rather than show the email in its entirety.
The trial is expected to last though Dec. 17.
Follow @MariaDinzeo
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