After Tragedy, Accent Signage Workers to Keep Co. Going

Following Thursday’s workplace shooting, the employees of Accent Signage Systems said they intend to “honor the memories of our colleagues and friends by continuing to grow the company they helped build through their hard work and dedication.”

The employees of Accent Signage Systems, Inc., plan to keep the Minneapolis business going after a workplace shooting claimed the lives of the company’s founder and five others.

Early Sunday, the company’s workers issued a statement saying that “this senseless act has devastated us, but it will not destroy us,” according to a report by the Star Tribune.

The employees said they intend to “honor the memories of our colleagues and friends by continuing to grow the company they helped build through their hard work and dedication.”

To read the full statement, click here.

The Star Tribune on Monday also reported on new details of the workplace shooting, which left six people dead, including the gunman, and two others hospitalized with gunshot wounds. Among the casualties was Reuven Rahamim, the company’s owner.

The Minneapolis newspaper, citing a timeline that Minneapolis police released Monday, reported that employee Andrew Engeldinger pulled out a gun and shot company officials Rami Cooks and John Souter—despite their efforts to overtake him—after he was told that he was fired and given his final paycheck. Cooks did not survive, and Souter was reportedly in serious condition Monday morning.

Police said that Engeldinger was fired “because of continued poor performance and lateness,” according to the Star Tribune.

In addition to Rahamim and Cooks, UPS driver Keith Basinski and Accent employees Ron Edberg and Jacob Beneke were killed during the shooting, the Star Tribune reported. Engeldinger then fatally shot himself.

To learn more details from Monday’s police account, click here.

Rahamim’s funeral reportedly attracted more than 1,000 mourners on Sunday. The entrepreneur graduated at the top of his class at Dunwoody College in Minneapolis and started Accent Signage Systems, which grew into a global business that makes interior signs featuring standard characters and Braille, the Star Tribune reported. To learn more about Rahamim and the service held Sunday, click here.