Alleged Office Shooter Being Held

Thursday, December 28th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

BOSTON (AP) â€” A software engineer accused of methodically gunning down seven co-workers is being held without bail as investigators try to figure out what may have made him snap.

Authorities seized bomb-making chemicals, blasting caps and magazines on explosives from the apartment of software engineer Michael McDermott, who pleaded innocent Wednesday to seven counts of murder.

He also may have participated in complex scientific discussions over the Internet about how to make explosives.

McDermott, 42, was being held in Middlesex County Jail in Cambridge. He was being evaluated to determine if he should continue to receive medications his lawyer said he's taking for an undisclosed psychiatric problem.

Prosecutors are investigating whether the rampage was prompted by a tax dispute. McDermott's employer had recently agreed to comply with an IRS order that it withhold a portion of his wages to pay back taxes.

Armed with a semiautomatic rifle, a shotgun and a pistol, McDermott allegedly stalked Edgewater Technology's Wakefield offices Tuesday morning, picking out seven victims and emptying at least 37 rounds in no more than eight minutes, Assistant District Attorney Tom O'Reilly said.

A woman who survived by hiding under her desk and draping her leather coat over her chair provided details of the massacre to police, O'Reilly said.

Surviving co-workers, relatives and friends plan to gather for a memorial service Thursday night at a nearby church, where employees had sought shelter in the aftermath of the shootings.

District Attorney Martha Coakley said investigators found explosives at McDermott's apartment, but no plans for their use.