Lead Inspector in Building Collapse is Found Dead [Updated]
[Updated 9:50 am] City officials are holding a press conference about the suicide of the L&I inspector.
City confirms at press conference that veteran L&I inspector Ronald Wagenhoffer dead of apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
— NewsWorks (@NewsWorksWHYY) June 13, 2013
L&I confirming: 52-year-old Ronald Wagenhoffer. 16-year veteran. Apparent suicide.
— Zack Seward (@zackseward) June 13, 2013
“With the building collapse a week ago, we have now lost seven lives.”
— Zack Seward (@zackseward) June 13, 2013
That last comment, from Deputy Mayor Everett Gillison, might offend the families of people who actually died in the collapse, as opposed to people who feel guilty about the people who died in the collapse. Not to be cruel to Wagenhoffer or his family, but there’s a real difference between the two modes of death.
Nutter administration: L&I inspector found dead was a dedicated civil servant who worked hard and always tried to do better.
— Philly.com (@phillydotcom) June 13, 2013
Nutter administration says L&I inspector who apparently committed suicide ‘did nothing wrong’ and followed the code as written at the time
— Philly.com (@phillydotcom) June 13, 2013
Gillison: there are five investigations he says to media, u will get the answers u want
— Jan Ransom (@Jan_Ransom) June 13, 2013
“This man did nothing wrong,” says Everett Gillison of L & I inspector. #Inq
— Mike Newall (@MikeNewall) June 13, 2013
Gillison: folks at L&I received counseling after building collapse
— Jan Ransom (@Jan_Ransom) June 13, 2013
Nutter administrations asks the news media to not approach the home of the L&I inspector and says a police officer is stationed there
— Philly.com (@phillydotcom) June 13, 2013
“He did his job and he did it the way he was supposed to do it,” Everett Gillison says of L & I inspector. #Inq
— Mike Newall (@MikeNewall) June 13, 2013
But here’s a possible kicker:
L&I commish had yet to talk to lead inspector
— Zack Seward (@zackseward) June 13, 2013
A week later, and the commissioner still hadn’t talked to the lead inspector on the site? Why not? What’s the protocol for such events? That may be today’s lede.
Gillison: I want to remind ppl we are still burying ppl from last week, we thank you for space that is needed
— Jan Ransom (@Jan_Ransom) June 13, 2013
So there you have it. If we didn’t know better, we’d say that city officials are now trying to buy themselves some time on this story by hiding behind dead bodies. But that’s too cynical. Philadelphia isn’t that awful, is it?
[Original: 7:01 am] Here’s the story that everybody is talking about today. NBC 10 reports:
The lead inspector of a Center City building that collapsed last week is dead after he committed suicide, according to multiple law enforcement sources close to the investigation who did not want to be named.
Law enforcement sources say the man shot himself once in the chest and was found dead inside his pickup truck along a wooded section of the 100 block of Shawmont Avenue in the Roxborough neighborhood of Philadelphia around 9:30 p.m. Wednesday, less than a mile from his home. The man didn’t leave behind a note but did text his wife before pulling the trigger, according to sources.
Northwest Detectives said 50-year-old Ronald Wagenhoffer was found dead from a gunshot wound to the chest at about 9 p.m. Wednesday.
Someone found him in his vehicle on the 100 block of Shawmont Avenue and called authorities.
His name was not immediately released but police identified him as the lead inspector of the site at 22nd and Market where a building collapsed last week.
He was the last inspector to visit the site before a four story wall crushed the Salvation Army thrift shop, killing six people and injured 14 others.
WHYY’s Kevin McCorry’s observation:
Can’t help but feel that lead inspector’s death is by-product of an underfunded system built to fail. #buildingcollapse
— Kevin McCorry (@byKevinMcCorry) June 13, 2013
