Police identify shooter in Cambridge workplace shooting, suicide

A suspect is dead and one person is in the hospital after police responded to reports of a person with a gun in Cambridge.

It happened at 58 Charles Street just before 8 a.m. on Thursday morning.

According to District Attorney Marian Ryan, an employee who was terminated from a business on that street a couple of months ago drove to that business on Thursday morning. Ryan said that person waited in his car for a current employee to arrive, got out of his car, and began firing. 

The current employee, a 58-year-old man, used his briefcase to shield his face and head. He sustained minor, non-life threatening injuries to his face. He has been taken to a local hospital for treatment. 

Other people arriving in the parking lot interrupted the incident. 

The former employee then returned to his car and took his own life in an apparent suicide. 

He has been identified as Kermit Hooks, 70 of Framingham. His identity has not been released pending notification of next of kin. 

A preliminary investigation showed the shooter had been recently terminated from the business. The victim of the shooting is believed to have been involved with the former employee’s termination in some capacity. It is believed the victim was specifically targeted. 

There is believed to be no threat to the public at this time. 

Ryan said the former employee was always intending to hit the particular employee, but bullets appears to have struck nearby buildings. 

"I would describe this as what is becoming all too familiar, another tragic case of workplace violence," Ryan said. 

Ryan said the former employee did not appear to try to enter the workplace.

Cambridge police tweeted the following: 

The investigation is ongoing.

Stay with 7News as this story develops.