By Reid Forgrave
The Cincinnati Enquirer

WEST CHESTER TWP - Tim Allen stood glued to the television Thursday around 11 a.m.

Allen is a truck driver for Dawes Transportation Inc. in an industrial park near Union Centre Boulevard. Across the street at Watkins Motor Lines, chaos reigned.

Allen had never seen so many police cars, so many television trucks, so many worried faces in his life.

"But there it is," Allen said, "right across the yard."

A middle-aged man had fired at least a dozen shots inside Watkins, hitting five of the eight employees at work.

Then he sped off, and local, state and federal law enforcement authorities furiously searched for him. For nearly two hours, there was nothing.

Police cordoned off the entire Watkins business, allowing in only law enforcement officials and Watkins trucks.

Businesses along this industrial strip of Centre Park Drive locked their doors when they heard the shooter was loose. Inside some of the companies, employees gathered between cubicles to talk after learning of the killings.

The calm, businesslike West Chester Police Chief John Bruce gave updates to throngs of media surrounding him on the double-yellow-lined road near Watkins. The family of Donald Haury, who died at the scene, screamed and cried when they heard the news. They went into a next-door business, where a police chaplain consoled them.

By noon, the alleged shooter, Tom West (also known as Joseph John Eschenbrenner) was in custody in Indiana.

Police breathed a sigh of relief. But even officers seemed affected by the events of the day.

"I love living in West Chester," said township police Sgt. Barry Walker, who watched over the victims' families. "I never thought something like this would happen out here."

Tears welled up in his eyes.

E-mail rforgrave@enquirer.com