By Khalida Sarwari
Lehigh Southwest Cement Plant employees returned to work today following a deadly shooting rampage there last week involving a disgruntled truck driver who shot nine people and killed three.
The company announced today that workers at its Permanente plant are returning to work and that the plant is open for business.
The shooting occurred at about 4:15 a.m. on Wednesday at the Lehigh Southwest Cement Plant at 24001 Stevens Creek Blvd.
On that day, Shareef Allman, 49, of San Jose, opened fire on about 15 other employees gathered at a meeting.
John Robert Vallejos, 51, and Mark Munoz, 59, both of San Jose, as well as Manuel Guadalupe Pinon, 48, of Newman, died from injuries sustained during the shooting, according to the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office.
Allman fled the worksite and carjacked a woman at gunpoint shortly before 7 a.m. in a Hewlett-Packard company parking lot. When the woman refused, he allegedly shot her once and fled. She sustained injuries that were not believed to be life threatening.
A day after the shooting, sheriff’s deputies shot and killed Allman in a Sunnyvale neighborhood during a massive manhunt.
Grief counselors are remaining at the cement plant to assist employees and the company anticipates the plant to be fully operational within a week.
