In the six-month period from August 2015 through February 2016, three episodes of deadly workplace violence occurred on the east coast, the west coast and in America's heartland.

August 2015: Two people were killed and one seriously injured in Virginia, when a disgruntled ex-employee shot two former colleagues on live television: 24-year-old Alison Parker, a WDBJ-TV7 news reporter and Adam Ward, a 27-year-old videographer. Ward was filming Parker as she interviewed chamber of commerce executive Vicki Gardner, who was seriously injured but survived probably because the killer's Glock ran out of bullets.

December 2015: In California, a county health inspector and his wife burst into a rented banquet room where approximately 80 of his colleagues were attending a holiday party. Fourteen people were killed and 22 were injured. The killers conducted a mass shooting and an attempted bombing during the attack.