The California light-rail facility worker who killed eight people at his workplace before turning the gun on himself “had two sides” to him and would often complain about his colleagues and bosses, his ex-wife said.
“When he was in a good mood he was a great guy. When he was mad, he was mad,” Cecilia Nelms, 64, told the Bay Area News Group on Wednesday, referring to her ex-husband Samuel Cassidy.
Early Wednesday morning, Cassidy, 57, carried out the deadly attack at San Jose’s VTA Light Rail Facility — where he worked as a substation maintainer, according to officials and reports.
Nelms and Cassidy were married for about 10 years, she told the news group, and during that time he would frequently rant about work.
Cassidy, who also set his home ablaze before the mass shooting, would angrily vent about multiple facets of his job, including his assignments and the people he worked with, according to Nelms.
“He just thought that some people got more easy-going things at work, and he’d get the harder jobs,” she told the news group.
Multiple weapons and ammunition were found inside Cassidy’s home and the attack appears to be related to a workplace issue, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Nelms said she was unaware of Cassidy owning guns when they were together.
In 2009, about four years after the former couple filed for divorce, a girlfriend of Cassidy accused him of rape and sexual assault, according to court documents obtained by the Bay Area News Group.
“Several times during the relationship he became intoxicated, enraged and forced himself on me sexually,” the now-ex-girlfriend wrote in a sworn declaration.
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