Shooter's Girlfriend: “Racism” Behind Killings

Omar Thornton's girlfriend said she knew something was wrong when he left her house Tuesday morning.

"He seemed like he had a stuff on his mind," Kristi Hannah said Wednesday. "I asked him what was wrong, and he said 'nothing'."

But something was wrong. Later that morning police say Thornton was forced to resign from his job as a driver at Hartford Distributors in Manchester, pulled a gun, and killed eight people before turning the gun on himself.

Hannah said Thornton complained to her that he was racially harassed at work. The company and the union representing Thornton say he never filed a complaint about any such harassment.

"Of course they're going to say that because if they weren't listening to him when he was trying to reach out, they're not going to know anything," Hannah said.

Hannah said Thornton had used his cell phone to take pictures of a noose and racially charged writings found on a bathroom wall at the Manchester beer distributor. She said police told her they have Thornton's cell phone, but police have not said anything about what they found on the phone.

Hannah spoke with Thornton's mother after Tuesday's shooting. She said Thornton called his mother and told her the racial issues were behind the shootings before killing himself.

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