Rampage brings death to industrial plant

Jace Radke

Wednesday, Nov. 11, 1998 | 11:08 a.m.

Chemical Lime Corp. officials this morning were not confirming whether a worker who authorities say used a front-end loader Tuesday to kill his supervisor and inflict mass destruction at the Apex plant before being shot to death by police had been fired.

Several plant employees Tuesday identified the driver of the front-end loader as Frank Lemos, 56, and said he had been fired prior to his alleged rampage.

But Tim Quinllin, Chemical Lime's spokesman, withheld confirmation of those reports this morning, adding that the company would issue a formal statement later today. Metro Police had not officially confirmed the identities of the victims Tuesday, and could not be reached for comment today because of the Veterans Day holiday.

Killed in the rampage was the man identified as Lemos, who was shot to death by police, and a man employees identified as Arthur Reber, 55, a 36-year employee of the company and father of five children. Reber was crushed to death by the front-end loader allegedly driven by Lemos.

Tuesday began as a normal day on the job for Chemical Lime's workers. The plant is about 4 miles north of Apex, an industrial settlement about 15 miles north of Las Vegas off Interstate 15. The day was shattered, however, when Lemos allegedly wheeled a 200,000-pound front-end loader on a spree of death and destruction.

Metro responded at about 2:15 p.m. and reported witnessing the driver of a 690-horsepower, CAT 992 front-end loader wreaking havoc and destroying plant buildings.

"I was in the office, and we heard a booming noise and then someone ran in the office and told us to get the hell out," said a Chemical Lime supervisor who asked that his name not be used. "We had no idea what was going on, and then we got out into the parking lot and the loader was heading north right toward the buildings.

"It was like a snowplow going through the parked cars. They would fly 50 feet when the loader plowed through."

The supervisor said that Reber, a production supervisor, was killed when the front-end loader's shovel was dropped onto him.

"He (Lemos) smashed Art's truck, and Art was running for his life across the parking lot," the supervisor said. "We thought he was only out to destroy property."

Reber, 55, was a Morman bishop in the Valley Verde Ward in Green Valley.

The driver, who had worked for the company for about 30 years according to co-workers, had partially destroyed three buildings when police arrived.

"The first officer on scene drove up to the front of the plant and yelled at the driver to get out, and then a second officer arrived and also yelled for him to get out of the vehicle," Metro Deputy Chief Paul Conner said. "The driver then reversed from the building he was lifting debris from and drove forward at the officers."

Realizing the danger the vehicle posed to themselves and the plant employees the officers opened fire with their handguns, Conner said. Because of the protection that the steel loader and the elevated cab provided the driver, one of the officers used a rifle and fired several shots through the cab, killing the driver, Conner said.

Both of the officers have been placed on administrative leave and their names have not been released in accordance with Metro regulations.

Police are still investigating the incident and are trying to determine what caused the driver to go on a rampage and if there is a connection between the driver and the victim.

One worker at the plant said that he would have never expected this of the driver.

"Frank was a real quiet guy who did what he was told and did a good job," said the co-worker, who also wanted to remain anonymous.

He added that it had been a normal day, except that the driver had come in for his lunch break and had been a little quieter than normal.

Plant workers said that both men had been longtime employees with the company and knew each other well.

About 40 employees were on-site during the incident, and the plant employs a total of 59 workers, a plant spokesman said. The spokesman also said that damages to the plant have not yet been assessed.

SUN REPORTER Karen Zekan contributed to this story.