BURLINGTON, MA — Authorities continued to work today to determine why a software engineer went off on a rampage yesterday, shooting 10 co-workers before barricading himself in his mother’s basement.
The shootings happened Tuesday afternoon at Imsosoft, a Boston-area software development firm, and were believed to be the work of Zdantmyltz Tsadzpomsyck, a programmer in his 40s who lives with his mother and once worked at Microsoft.
Referred to by his co-workers simply as “Z,” due to the fact that his name is unpronounceable, Tsadzpomsyck is believed to be from Finland, Iceland, or possibly Uzbekistan.
The shooting spree began around 3:30 p.m. Tuesday when Tsadzpomsyck approached Cobey Brandt, an Imsosoft technical writer. “Z started asking about the release notes, but he seemed sort of nervous, and I noticed that he had his right hand behind his back,” said Brandt. “Then the next thing I knew he started shooting.”
Brandt was shot multiple times with a Nerf N-Strike Maverick, a semi-automatic weapon that can fire up to six Nerf Micro Darts. “He emptied the clip, so I thought that was that and I could get back to work, but then he reloaded and started blasting away again,” said Brandt. “I think he could tell I was starting to get angry, because suddenly he just left.”
Next, Tsadzpomsyck went to the front of the building, where he attacked Sandy Dawes, a receptionist. “I saw Z coming at me with the Nerf gun,” said Dawes, “and at first I didn’t think he was serious. I mean, it’s pretty juvenile. But then he started shooting.” Dawes tried to hide under the reception desk, but was still struck multiple times.
Tsadzpomsyck then proceeded to roam the building with a variety of Nerf weapons, shooting eight more employees seemingly at random. After running out of Nerf darts, Tsadzpomsyck fled the building, drove home, and barricaded himself inside his basement apartment at his mother’s house.
But apparently “Z” wasn’t finished yet. Later that afternoon, several workers were showered with Nerf balls when they opened a break room cabinet that had apparently been booby-trapped. And the Imsosoft Human Resources Director, Nancy Smoltz, was shot with a Nerf USB missile launcher controlled by Tsadzpomsyck via a remote desktop connection. “I stopped by Z’s cubicle to have a discussion about appropriate workplace conduct, when suddenly I was pelted with Nerf darts,” said Smoltz, who now plans to send Tsadzpomsyck a sternly-worded email message and CC his supervisor.
Authorities at Imsosoft believe that the stress of an upcoming code freeze may have led to the rampage. “Z’s got like thirty open bugs to clear by Friday,” said Doug Barnes, Imsosoft VP of Engineering, “so I know he’s stressed, but he needs to stop fooling around and just get them done.”
