FedEx is reportedly examining a policy that prohibits workers from taking their cell phones to work after a deadly mass shooting at one of the company’s Indianapolis facilities.
The shipping giant told Insider it was re-evaluating the ban amid concerns that the policy would make it difficult for warehouse workers to contact their families after a gunman killed eight people there on Thursday night.
Employee family members were asked to wait for information at a hotel near the Holiday Inn, where some said they were struggling to reach their loved ones because of politics, according to local average.
Some workers were unable to contact their families immediately when they left the warehouse to interview or meet their families at the hotel, according to Indianapolis police officer Craig McCartt.
“It has certainly been a night of frustration and uncertainty for these families,” said McCartt, deputy director of criminal investigations at the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department. he told CNN early friday. “I think the frustration was exacerbated by the fact that many of the employees didn’t have cell phones on the premises.”
According to reports, at least one worker was able to send text messages about her husband’s updates when the shooting took place.
“I communicated with her for a while and then she shut up for a while, so I came here just to see what was going on,” said her husband, Ian Johnston, said local journalist Courtney Crown near the site of the shooting. “When I got here he texted me and said, ‘I’m fine.’
FedEx did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Post on the policy being examined following the shooting that also sent four people to hospitals with gunshot wounds, according to the Indianapolis Star.
In a statement released Friday, the Tennessee-based company said it was “deeply shocked and saddened” by the deaths of its warehouse employees.
“Our most sincere sympathies are with everyone affected by this senseless act of violence,” FedEx said. “The safety of our team members is our top priority and we are cooperating fully with the investigating authorities.”