A Philadelphia man has been charged in the killing of a FedEx employee at the airport, weeks after the victim did not approve him to be a driver for the package delivery company, authorities said Tuesday.
Keith Lamont Blount, 59, is charged with criminal homicide, murder of the first and third degree and firearms charges in the death of 51-year-old Bartholomew Masciulli, the Delaware County District Attorney’s Office said.
Blount is also charged in connection with shooting at police officers who were trying to take him into custody following the killing.
“Every homicide is a tragedy, but it is particularly shocking when this level of violence occurs in a place that we want to believe is safe – our workplaces, our schools, our houses of worship,” District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer said in a statement. “The victim in this case had been an employee of FedEx for 28 years, and he had been assigned to evaluate the readiness of a fellow employee to become a driver for FedEx. When the defendant did not receive a positive evaluation, he decided to retaliate in the worst way possible.”
Prosecutors said Blount killed Masciulli on Oct. 7 in the Cargo City area of the Philadelphia International Airport. Masciulli was found inside a Jeep Patriot by Tinicum Township police officers suffering from gunshot wounds to his face and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Witnesses said they saw a man speaking to the driver of a Jeep and that the man fired five rounds into the car. The shooter fled in a Honda Accord.
Masciulli evaluated Blount on Aug. 29 and did not approve him to be a driver for the company on Sept. 2, prosecutors said.
Hours after the killing, authorities found Blount at his home. He allegedly shot at two Philadelphia police officers and then fired on four more who responded to the first set of gunshots.
The officers returned fire and Blount was grazed in the head. He is being held without bail.
Fox News has reached out to FedEx.
* Article from: Fox News