Joseph Thomas Wesbecker was born on April 27, 1942. He faced hardship early in life when his father, a construction worker, died in an accident when Joseph was just 13 months old. After his father’s death, his mother, Martha, who was only 16 at the time, raised him as an only child. His early childhood was unstable, as he moved from one relative to another. There was a time when he even had to live in an orphanage for almost a year.

Joseph had a close bond with his grandfather, who passed away when Joseph was four years old. This loss added to the instability he experienced during his formative years. In school, Joseph struggled academically. He dropped out of high school after the ninth grade but later earned his G.E.D.

In 1960, Joseph began working as a pressman at a printing plant. The following year, he got married and had two sons named James and Joseph. In 1971, he started working at Standard Gravure. There, he gained a reputation as a hardworking and reliable employee.

However, trouble began in 1978 when his marriage ended in divorce. This marked the start of many personal challenges for him, including a difficult custody battle for his sons. That same year, he checked himself into a hospital for psychiatric treatment for the first time.

Joseph remarried in 1983, but that marriage also ended in divorce just a year later. After these events, he became more isolated and withdrawn from his family. His work remained the focal point of his life.

In 1986, Standard Gravure experienced a management change, which led to Joseph being assigned to a different position. He began to feel stressed and pressured at work. He asked to return to his previous job, but his request was denied. This refusal made him increasingly frustrated and suspicious that new management was intentionally harassing him.

Joseph reported that he experienced memory loss and other symptoms, which he attributed to exposure to chemicals at work. His situation worsened, leading him to file a complaint in 1987, claiming harassment due to his mental health. During this time, he was diagnosed with depression and diagnosed as manic depressive, receiving a prescription for the medication Prozac.

By August 1988, Joseph stopped working and went on long-term disability leave. Despite plans for him to return once he felt better, his mental health continued to decline. Between August 1988 and May 1989, he purchased several firearms. Shortly before a significant event in his life, he supposedly received a letter from his employer about the cancellation of his disability income.

On September 14, 1989, Joseph Thomas Wesbecker entered his former workplace, Standard Gravure, in Louisville, Kentucky, armed with several firearms. He parked his car at the front entrance and entered the building at 8:38 a.m. Wesbecker carried a Polytech AK-47S, a SIG Sauer P226 pistol, and a duffel bag with two MAC-11s, a Smith & Wesson revolver, a bayonet, and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.

He took the elevator to the executive reception area on the third floor. As the doors opened, he opened fire, killing receptionist Sharon Needy and paralyzing Angela Bowman. Wesbecker then moved through the hallways, intentionally shooting at people. He killed James Husband and injured several others, including Forrest Conrad and Paula Warman.

Afterward, Wesbecker went down to the pressroom. There, he killed Paul Sallee and wounded two electricians working nearby. He left his bag under a stairwell and continued into the basement. There, he came across John Tingle, who asked what was happening. Wesbecker replied and shot Richard Barger, killing him, and reportedly apologized afterward, having believed he shot him accidentally.

Back on the pressroom floor, Wesbecker shot and killed James Wible and Lloyd White. He entered the break room and fired at seven workers, killing William Ganote. He then shot Kenneth Fentress before going back to the pressroom. There, he turned the SIG Sauer pistol on himself, completing a shooting spree that lasted about half an hour, during which he fired about 40 rounds.

Overall, Wesbecker killed eight people and injured twelve more in the attack. One person suffered a heart attack during the chaos. After the shooting, police searched his home and found additional weapons, a will, and magazines that featured articles on similar violent incidents, indicating his troubled mental state.