John Felton Parish was born on July 4, 1933, in Dallas County, Texas. He had three children—two with his estranged wife and a son with a woman named Theresa from Indianapolis, Indiana. Parish and Theresa were in a relationship at the time of his death. Theresa and her son attended his funeral, although John’s family did not openly acknowledge Theresa’s son as part of the family. Parish’s third child was born in 1976.

At the time of the shootings, Parish was estranged from his wife and had recently lost a custody battle. In 1982, he also faced other personal hardships: his brother was awaiting a second kidney transplant, and his older sister had died of cancer.

Parish had been a truck driver for 20 years and worked for Jewel-T warehouse for eight months before joining Western Transportation Company in 1980. At Jewel-T, he was considered a troublemaker, leading to his removal from a contract job. Two weeks before the attack, Parish became embroiled in a pay dispute with his supervisor, Eddie Ulrich, claiming he was owed $1,600 in unpaid wages. Although Ulrich explained that Parish had earned less because he worked fewer hours, Parish felt mistreated and repeatedly complained. Friends described him as feeling disrespected and tired of the treatment he received, though he believed the dispute could have been resolved if management had talked to him “like a man.” Despite having no prior criminal record and being described as easy-going, these ongoing grievances contributed to his violent rampage.

At around 8:00 a.m. on August 9, 1982, John Felton Parish entered the Western Transportation Company building in Grand Prairie, Texas. He was armed with three firearms: a shortened M1 carbine, a .25-caliber semi-automatic pistol, and a .38-caliber revolver. Parish had come to settle a payment dispute with his supervisor, Eddie Ulrich. When the conversation did not go as he hoped, he shot and killed Ulrich, along with two others: truck driver Martin Moran and operations manager Moody Smith.

After the initial violence, Parish took a bobtail truck from the site and drove to another office of the Western Transportation Company just half a block away. There, he murdered executive secretary Wyvonne Kohler and wounded receptionist Ruth James and operations manager Burnett Hart. He took office worker Vicki Smallwood hostage for a short time, demanding to see an executive named Mike. When he could not find Mike, he released her, realizing she was connected to someone he knew.

Parish then drove to the Jewel-T warehouse, located about four miles from his previous location. There, he shot district sales manager Dave Bahl and confronted warehouse supervisor Richard Svoboda. He shot Svoboda in the jaw and then again in the face while the supervisor was on the ground. Parish also injured shipping supervisor Robert Sarabia during this time.

Leaving the Jewel-T warehouse, Parish hijacked an 18-wheeler truck loaded with cookies. The driver, Carl Lorentz, jumped out upon seeing the gunman, which led to an injury when he broke his foot. Parish sped through downtown Grand Prairie at about 70 mph while being chased by police.

His driving ended when he approached a police barricade. After being fired upon by Officer Alan T. Patton, he crashed into a police vehicle, injuring Patton seriously. The chase continued as Parish knocked down a utility pole and crashed the truck into a building belonging to E.L. Murphy Trucking Company, where it overturned.

After exiting the damaged truck, Parish fired at the officers. He made his way into the building through a break in the wall. The police responded and killed him with seven or eight shots at around 8:27 a.m. During the course of the shooting spree, Parish had fired various weapons, primarily the M1 carbine.