White Shirts

by Noraine Moree, Dave Berry, Joe Lee (Editor)

On April 24, 1996, Kenneth Tornes, an employee of the Jackson Fire Department in Jackson, Mississippi, stromed into a management meeting at Central Fire Station and began shooting, killing four men and critically wounding two others. It was a national news story for several days and a tragic and horrifying event that changed the lives of those affiliated with the JFD forever.Noraine Moree, whose husband, Don, died that day at the hands of Kenneth Tornes, and Dave Berry, the JFD Arson Division supervisor who pursued the then unknown shooter into a parking garage and at one point aimed his weapon at the assassin, take you behind the scenes of the Tornes shooting in a way nobody else can. You'll feel your own blook pumping as the deadly rampage is recreated, and you'll grieve as the lives of four good, decent men were taken in the blink of an eye by a madman.The larger and possibly more chilling effect of White Shirts however, is the role that internal city and department politics may have played in the years and months and weeks leading to that fateful spring day at Central Fire Station. How much of a role does poor workplace morale play in workplace violence and could the Tornes shootings have been prevented if city and department leadersip had been more effective?A story of anger, heartbreak, and forgiveness, White Shirts will give you a whole new appreciation for the courage and bravery of the men and women who work for our fire departments...and a whole new prespective on the inner-workings of our city governments and legal system.

186 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 18, 2012