HARVEY, La. (WGNO) — It was business as usual at FMT Shipyard in Harvey on Tuesday, July 18, a day after investigators say an ex-employee walked onto the grounds and allegedly shot and killed 20-year-old Dustin Parrie, Jr., and 48-year-old Nakie Brown.
“It’s around. Can’t avoid it. Some people get crazy,” a man delivering equipment said Tuesday while leaving FMT Shipyard.
Brown’s family drove to the shipyard Tuesday morning, hoping to find out how the alleged gunman gained entry.
A staff member said they didn’t realize the suspect was a threat.
“My son was a great young man, and he didn’t bother anybody,” Nakie’s mother Mary Ann Brown said. “He always loved to joke at home and stuff like that to keep us laughing and stuff.”
The victim’s mother said her son enjoyed his job at the shipyard and never mentioned any concerns about his co-workers.
“Well, I got a call from my aunty,” Nakie’s cousin Wanda Boyd said. “She said Nakie was dead. I said, ‘No, I just talked to him at 8:30 that morning. He said, ‘I’m doing fine. I just called you at 11 o’clock last night to just kick the breeze, you know joke and clown.’ And then, 12 o’clock, I get a call. He’s dead.”
Brown’s family says it’s not anyone’s fault but are still in shock.
“When you go to work, you’re supposed to come home,” Brown’s relative said. “Everybody is expecting you to come home, man, not to go to work and die.”
A safety meeting was held Tuesday, and grief counselors were available on site.
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