Employee kills three at Indiana business, then shoots self during high-speed chase

Friday, March 22nd 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

(SOUTH BEND, Ind.) - An employee shot and killed three people at an aircraft parts plant Friday morning, then led police on a high-speed chase that ended when he shot himself to death, authorities said.

The man was firing from a stolen van throughout the chase, and the vehicle was still moving when he shot himself while approaching a roadblock just across the state line near Niles, Mich., said Capt. Richard Dragomer of the Michigan State Police.

``It wasn't just police officers he was shooting at,'' Dragomer said. ``There were construction workers heading for cover as the van was coming through shooting with a sawed off shotgun.''

The shooting began shortly after 8 a.m. at Bertrand Products, an aviation parts manufacturer near the South Bend Regional Airport on the city's west side. Three people were killed, police said.

Another person from the plant was undergoing surgery and another was being treated in the emergency room at St. Joseph Medical Center, hospital spokeswoman Karen Hobgood said.

Two people were taken to Memorial Hospital. Hospital spokeswoman Ruth Linster would not release information about their injuries.

A Michigan State Police officer also was treated for a wound involving glass fragments from a gunshot-shattered windshield.

``It was a gun battle all the way out of South Bend,'' Dragomer said. ``He was shooting all the way.''

Deb Bonin, the wife of company President Paul Bonin, said he told her the shooter had worked at Bertrand's shipping and receiving department.

Bonin said her husband was not at the plant at the time of the shooting because of a morning doctor's appointment, but he had talked with other workers. About 50 people work there.

Five Bertrand employees ran to Attco Machine Products, a neighboring manufacturer, screaming for someone to call police, said Dawn Steinhofer, an administrative assistant at Attco.

South Bend is about 95 miles east of Chicago.