Guy had worked at the clinic, until being fired last year. This morning,
just before 9 a.m., he storms in armed with a handgun and a shotgun – guess
he read all the a.t-c recommendations about having a secondary weapon.

Oddly enough he started out with the handgun, instead of the other way
around. After killing his former boss, he discarded that gun and reached
for the long gun.

That’s when the heroics occurred. An employee tackled him, getting help from
a homeless man who was there as a client. They wrestled him down, and all
that was left was the drive to 850 Bryant,.. and a lot of paperwork.

In it’s usual tradition of poor journalism, the major paper here in town
carried this account by the Associated Press. Guess all of the reporters
were busy doing stories on rising property prices, traffic congestion, or
another of their endlessly regurgitated topics.

An employee who was fired from a mental health center last year returned to
the office Monday and opened fire with a handgun, killing a worker before
being wrestled to the floor.

Gregory Gray, 54, of San Francisco, was arrested and charged with murder,
police said. He was being held in a San Francisco jail.

Police did not immediately know what motivated the attack or if the shooter
was targeting the slain man. Police spokesman Neville Gittens said Grey has
a criminal record but provided no further details.

The shooter had discarded the handgun and was reaching for a shotgun when he
was tackled, police said.

“They subdued him before he could do a lot worse,” said Seth Katzman, an
administrator at Conard House Inc.

Katzman identified the victim as Bruce Franks, who worked for Conard for
about three years. Police and the city’s medical examiner could not
immediately confirm the dead man’s identity.

Katzman said Franks was a father of two who worked in homeless shelters
helping people get their Social Security checks.

“He was a good employee and a good guy who cared about his clients a lot,”
he said. “I knew him well enough to respect him and to like him.”

The attack occurred shortly before 9 a.m. at a Conard community service
office in the South of Market neighborhood. The company provides mental
health and social services and has helped administer some of the city’s new
“Care Not Cash” housing services for the homeless.

Police said six employees were in the office when the gunman entered and
shot his former co-worker. After he dropped a handgun and began reaching for
a shotgun, police said a male case worker tackled him and yelled for help.
That drew the attention of a client, who helped wrestle the man to the
floor.

As the men struggled, a transient grabbed the shotgun, wrapped it in a coat
and dashed into the street, Gittens said.

An arriving police officer asked the two to keep the gunman pinned down
while he took the shotgun away from the transient. The gunman was arrested
soon after, Gittens said.

Katzman, the clinic’s director of supportive housing, said the gunman was
fired from the center in September.

The center is described on its Web site as the “oldest and one of the most
successful programs of its kind,” providing housing and other support
services for emotionally troubled adults. It will remain open with a reduced
staff through the week.