XEROX WORKER `SNAPS,' 7 DIE; SUSPECTED SHOOTER GIVES UP AFTER STANDOFF.

Byline: Bruce Dunford Associated Press 

In the latest outburst of workplace violence, a Xerox copier repairman shot and killed seven co-workers in his office building Tuesday morning, authorities said. He surrendered after a five-hour armed standoff with police.

Police believe Byran Uyesugi, a 15-year Xerox employee, shot seven copier technicians at about 10 a.m. PST before fleeing in a company van.

``It appears as though it was a disgruntled employee who snapped,'' Mayor Jeremy Harris said. Police would not comment on a motive.

The gunman stopped several miles from the office building in a leafy, residential neighborhood. Police cordoned off the area and began negotiating with him about two hours later.

About five hours after the shooting, Uyesugi emerged from the van, walked to the back of the vehicle with his hands raised and then fell down on the ground. His brother had helped in the negotiations.

Special-tactics teams raced toward him with automatic weapons drawn. No shots were heard, and no injuries were reported.

Uyesugi, 40, was being booked for investigation of first-degree murder, which carries a mandatory penalty of life without parole in Hawaii.

``It's a shock for all of us. We have such a safe community with almost no violent crime,'' Harris said. ``To have someone snap like this and murder seven people is just absolutely appalling.''

The gunfire erupted in an industrial section of Honolulu, far from the Waikiki tourist district. Five victims were found dead in a conference room and two were found nearby. All had been shot with a 9 mm handgun, authorities said.

Police found 20 shell casings at the scene. At Uyesugi's home, they found 11 handguns, five rifles and two shotguns.

The victims - all men - were shot on the second floor of the two-story building, authorities said. They ranged in age from 33 to 58.

Uyesugi was a member of his high school rifle team and had about 17 weapons registered in his name. ``This could have been much, much worse,'' Harris said.

Negotiators talked with the suspect through a bullhorn in Makiki Heights, a residential neighborhood near the shooting scene. Uyesugi was seen pacing back and forth outside the van.

Police cordoned off a half-mile area around his van, which was near the Hawaii Nature Center. About 60 fourth-graders and 12 chaperones were on a nature hike when police told them to get to higher ground. A school bus with two rifle-toting police officers then took the students to safety.

Authorities also evacuated a separate group of first-graders on a field trip. About 10 homes were also evacuated. Neighborhood residents set up lawn chairs in the streets to watch the situation unfold.

Xerox employees were taken across the street from the building to be questioned by police and helped by counselors. Another Xerox building, in downtown Honolulu, was evacuated in case the gunman headed that way.

Xerox employs 92,700 people worldwide and 148 people in Honolulu.

Uyesugi went to work for Xerox in 1984. As a customer-service engineer, he traveled to various sites to repair and maintain printers and copiers.

It was the latest of several workplace killings across the United States this year.

In Pelham, Ala., 34-year-old Alan Miller was charged with killing two co-workers at their office Aug. 5, then killing a third person at a company where he used to work.

Just one week earlier, Mark Barton, 44, killed nine people and wounded 13 others at two brokerage firms in Atlanta, then killed himself. He had earlier killed his wife and two children.

CAPTION(S):

3 photos, map

Photo: (1 -- color) Bryan Uyesugi

Shooting suspect

(2) Byran Uyesugi, suspected of killing seven Xerox co-workers in Honolulu, sits in a van during a five hour standoff with police.

Craig Kojima/Associated Press

(3 -- color) Suspected gunman Byran Uyesugi, center, is brought into the Honolulu Police Department on Tuesday.

George F. Lee/Honolulu Star-Bulletin

Map: Oahu