The Detroit News has reported that Chrysler had to idle its Jefferson North Assembly plant in Detroit last week after one of its workers fatally stabbed another in an altercation during a shift on Thursday, September 20th. The suspect was believed to have committed suicide after Detroit police found him dead in a Jeep Wrangler on neighbouring Belle Island in downtown Detroit. Both men had worked at the plant for over 18 years in the materials department.
“Chrysler Group is deeply saddened by events that occurred at its Jefferson North Assembly Plant this morning,” the company said in a statement. “Two employees were involved in an altercation inside the plant. One employee was stabbed and unfortunately pronounced dead at the scene. The Detroit Police Department is currently investigating,” the statement continued. The Jefferson North plant in Detroit was immediately put into lockdown last week Thursday when local police suspended all work for the day.
The plant resumed full production activities the next day after an 18 hour lockdown. The Jefferson North plant is seen as Chrysler’s finest production facility and employs 3 075 workers over two shifts. It assembles, amongst others, the Jeep Grand Cherokee SUV and builds an average of 750 vehicles per day across those two shifts. The plant started production back in 1992 and this is the second homicide at a Chrysler facility in the last decade. In 2005 a similar murder suicide took place at Chrysler’s Toledo North Plant.
