Philadelphia – An investor who killed three people and himself at a marketing company was upset about losing money in a failed real estate venture and told his victims to “say your prayers” before he opened fire, police said Tuesday.
Vincent J. Dortch, 44, of Newark, Del., brought two handguns to a Monday night meeting he had organized under the pretense that he had another investor who wanted in on the venture, authorities said.
Minutes after the meeting started, Dortch told his victims: “You have a minute or two to say your prayers,” police Inspector Joseph Fox said.
He forced one of two other investors to bind four others with duct tape, then assured the two investors that he did not have a problem with them.
The two investors apparently were allowed to leave the room, and Dortch opened fire, killing three. He may have deliberately spared the fourth man’s life, Fox said. Patrick Sweeney, 31, of Maple Shade, N.J., was listed in critical condition.
Police identified the dead men as Robert Norris, 41, of Newark, Del.; his brother Mark Norris, 46, of Pilesgrove, N.J.; and James Reif, 42, of Endicott, N.Y.
The shootings took place in the offices of a marketing company, Zigzag Net Inc. Police said the dead men were executives in the startup Watson International, which sought to turn a former IBM conference center in Binghamton, N.Y., into “a world-class entertainment and banquet facility,” according to its website.
Dortch claimed he and two other investors at the meeting had lost money on the venture, perhaps as much as $500,000 combined, police said.
Sweeney, despite being bound and shot several times, freed his hand enough to splice together wires from a phone Dortch had yanked from the wall, and managed to call 911, Fox said.
Police and Dortch exchanged fire, and then he put a gun to his temple and killed himself, Fox said.
