We have an active shooter, we have an after Shooting's go ahead of me,
clear, that's a mass casualty Welcome to Active Shooter, a podcast that
covers the whys, the hows, and the aftermath of active shooter and mass
casualty events. I have an active shooter in the building. A teching call
says they are big attack six. We got chush flier at four fifteen as
Rouge ninety one, So I'd like, oh, I'm at a fire on
active shooter. Orts of an active shooter, Active shooter, active shooter in
mash casualty incidents. Thank you for listening. You are listening to Active Shooter,
a podcast that may contain adult themes, explicit language, and graphic depictions
of violence. Portions of this show may be traumatic for those under eighteen.
Listener discretion is advised. Good evening to our viewers in the West. We
are going to begin with breaking news another mass shooting. A gunman went on
a rampage in Milwaukee this afternoon. Multiple people are dead, including the shooter.
It happened at the Moulson Corps complex where Miller Beer is brewed. As
the gunfire rang out, workers were told to shelter in place as police swarmed
the scene. The shooting at the Moulson Cores Beverage Company Milwaukee complex isn't one
that can be easily categorized as workplace violence, racially motivated, anti Semitic,
mental health break, or school bullying. This shooter displayed clear signs of deteriorating
mental health, increasing paranoia, and gnawing anger towards the numerous racial injustices that
he encountered. Each victim was precisely selected, yet there were no obvious interpersonal
conflicts between the shooter and each specific victim. It makes shootings such as these
so unpredictable despite the mounting warning signs. Today's case is dedicated to the lives
and memories of the five shooting victims. Jenne Day, Jane Loveshets, Dana
Walkjesus, Jesse Valet, Junior Dale Hudson, and Trevor wetzelar Active Shooter.
The podcast is a High five Holly production, and I'm your host j T.
If you've listened to our prior episodes, you know that the Active Shooter
podcast team has taken THEE No Notoriety pledge and we will not be sharing the
real name to the shooters that we cover. We will be giving the shooters
a pseudonym and refer to them by that name throughout the episode. This will
help in clearing up any confusion in the story while remaining true to our pledge
in not naming the shooter by their actual name. We will refer to today's
shooter as stand. The Molson Corps Beverage Company, located at forty one hundred
West State Street on the northwest side of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is a sprawling
complex housing more than twenty buildings that employed over one thousand people. The area
is often referred to as Miller Valley, the name that harkens back to the
days of the Miller Brewing Company, which is now part of the Molson Corps
Company. Among the many buildings is a one hundred and sixty year old brewery,
the corporate offices including customer service, engineering, finance, and human resources,
a distribution center the size of five football fields, and a packing center
that churns out thousands of bottles and cans every minute. Tours are off to
the public, showcasing the underground caves used to store beer, a champagne room,
an outdoor beer garden, that can accommodate three hundred people, a stein
hall with stained glass windows, and the saloon which was filled with intricate woodworking.
Wednesday, February twenty sixth, twenty twenty was a cold Milwaukee, Wisconsin
day. A light snow fell throughout the day as employees for the Moulsen Corps
plant were busy. As always, there was a maintenance planning meeting being held
that morning, although it was relatively short, only lasting about fifteen minutes,
according to a witness. That same witness later confirmed that there were no arguments
or issues of any kind at the meeting, which only a handful of employees
attended, including four of the shooting victims and the shooter. Later that afternoon,
Stan, along with a few other employees were sitting in the break room
enjoying some doughnuts and milk. Stan was talking about vacations and didn't outwardly appear
to be disturbed or upset. A witness later reported that Stan seemed to be
received text messages. It seems that while he was engaged in conversation, he
appeared distracted. At the same time as the group sat talking, Jeane Loveshets
entered the room, Stan immediately took notice, calling out to him quote,
oh, Jeane, sit down and have a fellowship with us. Without hesitation,
Jeane sat chatting with Stan and the others for a few minutes. Trevor
Wetzelar walked in shortly after Jeane, and Stan looked up and acknowledged him.
Trevor continued into the control room, where he relieved another employee, Jesse,
as the control room operator. At the same time, Jean stood up and
left the breakroom and entered the bathroom, where he promptly locked the door and
completed his business. As Jean locked the restroom door, Stan shook his head
in a manner that displayed annoyance towards Jeane. After leaving the bathroom, Jean
returned to the control room, passing back through the breakroom. Once he was
out of earshot, Stan said out loud, quote, what the fuck is
his problem? Others in the room were slightly bewildered. They weren't sure who
Stan was referring to, but they were inclined to think he was talking about
Jesse, since there was noticeable hostility, although it certainly appeared one sided,
as most coworkers weren't aware of Jesse having an issue with Stan. At a
little after two pm, Stan rose and put on a pair of gloves as
he exited the room, saying that he'd be right back. Another witness heard
Stan making a phone call where he said quote, I just wanted to leave
you a message that we'll go to after school care today and someone will pick
her up. Okay, thank you by The witness recalled this statement as being
noteworthy because Stan always made it a point to leave work promptly so he could
pick up his child from school on time. About four minutes past before,
Stan was heard saying quote, I'll be back. Before entering the control room,
he carried a forty caliber Walter P ninety nine C semi automatic pistol and
a forty five caliber Springfield XDM semi automatic pistol that was equipped with dead air
armament ghost suppressor. Minutes later, witnesses heard four gunshot blasts, one right
after the other. Among the first shot was sixty one year old Jenity Jean
Levschetz, a benevolent man who was blessed to be the husband of Elina,
father to Tanya and Becca, and grandfather to Hannah and Benny. Jean,
his wife and their then six year old daughter left the Soviet Union, specifically
Belarus in this summer of nineteen eighty nine, searching for the American dream.
He earned a degree in civil engineering before eventually going to work for the Molson
Corps Company as a boiler operator. Both of Jean's children attended the University of
Wisconsin Madison, and during their time there, he visited often, and his
entire family said he loved spending time with them, valuing that time above all
else. He frequently contacted relatives in Mexico and it was very important to Jeanne
to keep his family bond strong. His daughters said their dad was the best
at making them feel intelligent, beautiful, and loved. It was just his
way and the compassionate man will be sorely missed. Outside of the control room
area, an employee who was returning from lunch was on the fifth floor of
Building four when he heard what he initially thought was a piece of equipment malfunctioning.
It only took a beat before he realized what was truly happening. Back
inside of the control room, Fifty seven year old Dana Walk was also shot
and killed. Born on July sixth, nineteen sixty two. Dana graduated from
Kettel Morain High School in nineteen eighty one, before going on to marry his
wife of thirty five years, Dorry. The high school sweethearts were parents to
Andy, Melanie and Michelle. Dana was a fisherman in his free time,
and it was a sport he was passed passionate about. In fact, he
was a member of the Pewaukee Chapter of Walleyes for Powaukee Lake and even went
ice boating during the winter months, cruising on a boat he built with his
own hands. Dana was always busy working on a project Dora hobby and was
usually listening to music as he did so. The avid Green Bay Packers fan
was a great man who will be mourned by many employees were racing throughout the
plant, rushing into lockdown moat as they were trained to do by way of
numerous active shooter drills. People were screaming active shooter and some employees were able
to lock themselves inside of a coat room, taking shelter in a dark,
cramped space that was a haven. Unfortunately for fifty year old Dale Hudson,
he wasn't able to make it to safety. The Elkhorn, Wisconsin native was
married to his loving wife, Kathleen, and they shared twin daughters, Annie
and Sam. Dale also had a son from a previous marriage. An employee
with the Molsen Corps companies since two thousand and eight, he was approaching and
looking very much forward to retirement. He was known as a quiet, yet
happy man who was always willing to pitch in and help out when he could.
Dale was a nature lover who was outdoors whenever possible, and always with
a hat of some sort atop his head. He golfed, hunted, and
fished, and was said to have the skill to fix anything. Dale was
a gifted handyman with an inherent ability to problem solve. This selfless man had
a massive heart and all who knew him will fill the loss. A witness
just outside of the control room stated that he peered through a window into the
room and saw Stan, who was standing over the body of their coworker.
Jesse. Three year old Jesus Jesse Valley Junior was happily married to the love
of his life, Angelica. Together they had two small children, a three
year old son and a two year old daughter. Jesse was extremely close with
his entire family, but especially his sister Jenny, and he was the happiest
when he was with the extended family, barbecuing and celebrating life. A devout
Catholic, Jesse was proud of his heritage and was known to all as an
incredibly generous soul. He loved to share new beers with his neighbors and could
always be found outdoors spending time with his kids. Fittingly, a seven piece
mariachi band played at the funeral for a man who was beloved by so many.
As Stan looked up from Jesse, a black firearm clutched in his hand,
he turned and looked directly at the witness and Trevor Levschetz, who was
standing together frozen in fear. Stan raised both hands and started waving at the
pair. Without another second's hesitation. Trevor ran, the witness ran too.
They shouted as they ran, alerting others of the shooting. As they came
to one of the delivery semi trucks, the witness hopped into the cab of
the truck, using the driver's cell phone to call nine one one, Stand
shot and killed Trevor before turning the gun on himself. Thirty three year old
Trevor Wetslaar graduated high school in two thousand five before attending the University of Wisconsin
Madison, which is where he met his wife, Jane. Trevor graduated in
two thousand and nine with a political science degree, and in twenty twelve he
enlisted in the Navy, which he served with for six years. Trevor's greatest
professional accomplishment was his service as a nuclear reactor operator aboard the submarine us S
Maryland. When he left the military in twenty eighteen, Trevor accepted a position
with the Molsen Corps Company, which allowed him to return home where many of
his family and friends lived in Milwaukee. Trevor and his wife were regular game
night hosts and the gregaryan u fun loving young man will be greatly missed.
The company issued an employee wide text message alert ordering all employees to lock down.
They also posted on Twitter notifying the public of an active shooter in the
area. As first responders arrived, they instructed employees to head immediately into a
locker room and lock the door behind them. They would bring them out when
it was clear and safe. It didn't take long for police to locate the
deceased bodies of Trevor, jesse Dale, Dana, and Jean scattered throughout the
massive building were hats, phones, and glasses. Workers were escorted from the
building and padded down by officers, a humiliating and devastating, yet necessary task
to ensure the continued safety of all involved. The scene looked like a war
zone. Blood all over the place, in the hallway, on the ceiling,
the overhead bay, door, control room, and garbage cans, hands.
It was everywhere. The first nine to one to one call reporting shots
fired at the Molsen Corps beverage company came in at two o eight pm NOLACHETONI
nine one one location of Armagente. My husband would call me from Miller Cords
in Milwaukee and that there is an active cuter on campus. Reported Twenty minutes
later, police discovered the body of the shooter slumped against the wall, a
single gunshot wound to his head and a black handgun resting on his chest.
A hospital located a few miles away from the brewery received word of the shooting
nearby, so staff jumped into action. However, there never ended up being
any transports due to the fact that there weren't any injuries, only deaths.
Fifty one year old Stan was married with two adult children and one younger one.
He had a brother living in North Texas, though it's unclear whether there
were any other family connections. He served in the United States Coast Guard from
nineteen eighty seven to nineteen ninety one and was honorably discharged. Several neighbors described
Stan as quiet but polite. He took the time to check in with others,
and he was just as frequently seen throwing the ball for his dog.
Why he is my excellent father? Is this a shame? Whose family will
be without him? He who was a good husband. You were turned.
He did what he could with college and her kids leave anything. He made
sure the guy. That's how hard he worked. When you looked out your
phone, though I was a massive police card, you couldn't partner over.
I would say to his family, let's all prey, not just rot a
onesie shot, Let's pray for everybody. Others report that Stan would sit on
his porch with a handgun or shotgun nearby. He was known to order gun
parts through the mail, and then he would assemble the firearms himself. One
neighbor in particular indicated that Stan always carried a semi automatic firearm which was concealed
in a backpack, and a smaller gun that fit in his pocket. While
others seemed to make note of the weapons, Stan was never without. It
doesn't appear that anyone complained of him handling the guns in a manner that was
aggressive or threatening towards others. For his part, Stan just referred to himself
as a gun collector. Stan was employed as an electrician in the utilities department
with Molsen cores for over twenty years, seventeen of which were spent at the
Milwaukee Brewery. However, the time with the brewery hadn't always been a positive
experience. Accused the company of discrimination, and even accused co workers of coming
into his home, moving furniture around and bugging the house. He filed grievance
with the Human Resources Department, citing horrific incidents of racism, including being called
incredibly derogatory names and had terrible gestures made towards his person. The HR department
ended up closing the complaint after determining the claims could not be proven. A
friend of Stands later said that there was an incident at work about five years
before the shooting, where a hangman's noose was placed in his locker at work.
The same friends said that numerous minority employees began to gather to take their
serious concerns to human resources, but nothing ever came of it. A spokesperson
from Molson Corps later said, quote, we investigated it fully at the time,
how it got there, who put it there, which was inconclusive due
to camera angles. The company claims that they have looked into every complaint of
racism, wrong doors have been fired, and that they've taken measures to promote
inclusion and diversity among employees. In twenty fifteen, Stan slipped off a ladder
at work, tearing his rotator cuff. He refused to get the necessary surgery
to repair the damage, mostly in part to not being able to afford to
miswork, and it's not clear why it wasn't considered a work related incident,
allowing for workers compensation. At about the same time, others close to Stan
say he started to develop paranoid feelings that the company had internal spies who were
watching him. He filed another complaint with HR, alleging that someone broke into
his locker on several occasions to use his tablet, which he determined was happening.
After seeing his tablet's battery was lower than expected, Stan asked for the
lock on his office to be changed, but the request was refused. At
home, Stan kept several guns locked in two different safes that were located in
the basement. In the winter of twenty eighteen, he placed surveillance cameras all
around his house, including the hallway, living room, kitchen, and basement.
At the time, he claimed to his wife that the cameras were there
because someone broke into their home. Stan even told one neighbor that someone broke
into his house, drugged him, and used his fingerprints as he lay unconscious
to access his computer and possibly even his cell phone. Stan's wife later told
police that it never happened and there was absolutely no evidence of such. She
didn't love the camera's being everywhere, but she loved her husband, so she
figured it was better to appease him. In twenty nineteen, Stan installed yet
more cameras in the house, and about a year before the shooting, he
started working out, which is an odd in and of itself. It was
the excessive or obsessive nature in which he threw himself into exercise. He lost
so much weight that a friend described Stan as looking sick. The friend suggested
to Stan that he reconsidered his workout regimen and suggested a healthier eating routine.
Stan took the advice, but he went the extreme opposite and started consuming only
junk food. Not long before the shooting, Stan's brother passed away, which
seems to have deeply affected him, particularly because Stan is the one who found
his brother's body. Stan's wife indicated that he wasn't not on any sort of
medication for anxiety or depression, but she thought her husband was suffering from paranoid
behavior. She just didn't think it rose to the level of serious concern on
her part. A neighbor seemed to corroborate the paranoia, claiming that Stan once
told him that investigators followed him home from a bar, that unknown vehicles were
parked around his house, and even asked the neighbor to peer through the scope
of a hunting rifle to see if a car parked on their street was suspicious.
Stan didn't exactly have a criminal history. In the nineteen nineties, he
was accused of pointing a gun at a Ford Bronco that pulled up next to
him at a red light in downtown Milwaukee. The charges were later dropped without
any further explanation, though it's believed that the accuser may not have been credible.
In nineteen ninety five, he was charged with misdemeanor battery after being accused
of punching a woman in the mouth. Again, the charges were dismissed for
an unknown reason. He had a few minor traffic tickets and was part of
several civil lawsuits, including one in twenty fifteen for compensation following a car accident.
Attached to the lawsuit was a medical report that stated that Stan lost a
daughter who was born prematurely in two thousand and nine. It went on to
allege that he drank three beers per week, didn't use tobacco, and then
he suffered from lower back pain and had since his twenties, though he didn't
suffer from headaches or cognitive impairments. After the shooting, investigators thoroughly searched Stan
and his wife's three bedrooms, single bath home located on West Potomac Avenue.
The home was situated about five miles from the brewery, and records showed that
the couple lived there since two thousand and four, purchasing the home on a
VA loan. Crime scene tape was quickly used to create a border around the
perimeter, and investigators removed numerous articles of evidence such as ammunition, as well
as many other unidentified items. After the search was complete, the tape was
stripped and the side entrance to the home was boarded up. There were lots
of little red flags, small little red flags that if stitched together, would
create a large waving banner. Though there were complaints legitimate claims, it seems
the shooting was not considered racially motivated, but was instead considered to be prompted
by mental illness. No actual motive is known, or at least it's never
been released. The shooter left no note, no manifesto, and no real
insight into his frame of mind. The Molson Corps facility reopened on Monday,
March second, twenty twenty, which was approximately a week after the shooting.
Added security measures were instituted after the shooting, and three of the buildings were
equipped with armed security officers guarding the lobby. Unarmed security was increased around the
rest of the complex and anyone entering any building was subject to a search of
their bag or purse. Employee Assistance program services, including counseling, were on
site and available for employees. You see, we all have the unique ability
to help prevent such a catastrophic event from happening if we keep our eyes and
ears open and no ever hesitate to report when something or someone just doesn't seem
right. With the delicate balance of mental health reform, education, active shooter
training, and common sense gun laws, we may one day realize the dream,
the dream that there will be no more active shootings. We pray that
love will prevail over hate. Too many have died, we should say to
ourselves, not one more. In the meantime, we urge our listeners to
stay aware of your surroundings and keep in touch with your loved ones. If
you see something, say something, you never know how many lives you'll be
saving. Thank you for listening to today's episode of Active Shooter the podcast.
Remember if you see something, say something, there's no telling how many lives
you may be saving. A big thank you to Darren Curtis, who composed
some of the songs on our show. You can find him online at www
Dot Darrencurtis music dot com. Make sure to check us out on social media.
You can find us on Facebook at Active Shooter the Podcast and on Twitter
at podcast Active. Thank you and be safe.