Shots Fired: IDOT Employee Retrieved Personal Firearm and Fired Shot(s) After Workplace Prank –

Kevin, your thoughts are appreciated, but here’s another point of view. Yes, there often appears to be too many highway workers doing very little, but appearances can be deceiving. I’m sure, at times, you’re correct on this. But, having been in the armed services as well as a retired IDOT employee…there’s a lot that’s being overlooked.
The people you see in the field are just the troops doing what they are ordered to do. It takes lots of coordination and personnel, all working together to insure safety in the traffic environment they work in. Processes mandates and procedures established by IDOT’s upper management are at play here, none of which are controlled by the field workers. Everything is measured, counted, weighed and inspected. Inspectors only watch and document. Engineers also visit job sites. If in IDOT’s judgement 6 men are needed for safety but 4 might work, well, you’ll see six. IDOT places safety first and sometimes there has to be some reserve on site.
Give them some credit. You might appreciated them a little more if you had to stand by and flag distracted drivers all day, in the heat of the summer sun and next to a blazing hot asphalt machine. Dodging motorists, anticipating their moves, and surviving is all part of their job. It’s not an easy task. Highway maintainers are killed every year on Illinois Highways.

Not only should they TERMINATE the guy that brought the pistol and fired the shots at the fake snake, they need to FIRE the workers that perpetrated the “prank” in the first place! If they have all that free time to bully someone about a phobia then IDOT has too many workers. HOW MANY TIMES DO WE ROLL BY A ROAD CONSTRUCTION AND SEE 10 WORKERS STANDING AROUND WATCHING 2 GUYS WORKING?

I say not only TERMINATE the employee that fired the gun on state property against rules BUT ALSO FIRE the employees that were responsible for the so called “prank” in the first place! How many times do you roll past an IDOT work site only to see about 10 workers standing around doing nothing or leaning on a shovel or guardrail while maybe 1 or 2 are actually working! And if they have time to “prank” someone on their phobias then they have too many people at the job site.

Ha! Perhaps he was firing at the fake snake? : ) Perhaps it was a model of a Timber Rattler or a Water Moccasin.
The pranksters should also be disciplined in some manner. I suspect they knew the wild man with the gun had a snake phobia and they exploited it to its full extent. The nuances of this story will undoubtedly be interesting when all of the facts are revealed.

Read the employee handbook, “No firearms allowed on state property” This employee needs 30 day without pay pending discharge! Who cares if he is an elected official, He should know better.

I worked for IDOT for 25 years, I remember no firearms were allowed on the state property, But like everything that went on at IDOT it depended on who you were.. Fire the employee and the rest of them will get the message!

IDiOT is no different than any other state run entity, it’s run by incompetent political hacks and corrupt to the core. I don’t appreciate my tax money being spent on pranks and foolishness, now get to work!

And it’s ridiculous BS like this that penalizes the rest of us who are responsible gun owners. I hope all are punished.