OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Federal prosecutors have charged a woman who told authorities that she intended to shoot co-workers at the Omaha veterans hospital, starting in the building basement and working her way up.
U.S. District Court records say Tina Hardin, 51, has pleaded not guilty to a charge of influencing, impeding or retaliating against a federal official by threats. Her attorney didn’t immediately return a call Friday from The Associated Press.
The court records say Hardin had been working as a shuttle bus driver at the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
According to the records, Hardin, who is black, said she was a victim of racism at the hospital. She also said she wanted to hurt a manager who gave her a bad appraisal and a nurse who’d asked her about weapons Hardin could access.
A VA psychiatrist who talked to Hardin told investigators the threats were credible and were not “triggered by any of her medical history” but instead were “solely triggered by events at her workplace.”
