AT&T Store Shooting Puts Spotlight on Retail Workers' Safety

A CWA Local 1126 member who was shot while working at an AT&T Wireless store in central New York will be honored at the CWA convention, along with the off-duty police officer who killed the gunman before he could hurt anyone else.

The shooting and the events leading to it are a textbook argument for more retail store security and worker training.

The victim, Seth Turk, is out of the hospital but has a long road to full recovery. He was one of four CWA members and six workers total named on a "hit list" carried by gunman Abraham Dickan, 79, a meddlesome, almost daily visitor to the New York Mills store. A month earlier, Dickan brandished a gun to another CWA member there. AT&T sent him a letter banning him from the store, but no changes were made in security.

On May 27, after the county seized the weapon and revoked his carry permit in response to the earlier incident, Dickan returned, pulled a .357 caliber revolver and shot Turk in the stomach. Nearby in a short line of customers, off-duty Police Officer Donald Moore swiftly pulled his gun and fatally shot Dickan. No one else was injured.

In spite of his grave injury, Turk, 37, managed to call 911 and calmly provide details. "He was even able to tell them about Officer Moore having a weapon so they didn't come in thinking he was possibly the assailant," Local 1126 Vice President Jason White said. "The police said it was a textbook 911 call."

White praised AT&T for its efforts since the shooting, which include re-opening the store at a new site with multiple video cameras, panic buttons and, for now, a constant police presence. But he is concerned about long-term safety for his members and all CWA retail workers nationwide. "We definitely need to establish a protocol, jointly with the company, that workers can follow if they ever feel threatened by a customer," he said.