Workplace violence: are there signs?

TAMPA - After two deadly shootings in separate states just two days apart, many are asking if there was any way to see it all coming.

The victims and settings of the shootings were different, but they had one thing in common: both are chilling examples of workplace violence.

"Certainly we're seeing more people get more desperate, and the more desperate they get, the more out of line kinds of behavior they end up doing," explained Tom Mueller with The Tampa Bay Crisis Center.

In the case of Fort Hood , Major Nidal Hasan, a military psychiatrist getting ready to deploy overseas, emptied his apartment as if going off to war.

Instead, he killed 13 people at the base where he worked.

Counselors say many times there are warning signs before an incident like this happens. But so far, Hasan's colleagues say, there was no such indicator.

"He was a hard working, dedicated young man who gave great care to his patients. I personally had no indication that this was something that he would choose to do," according to Col. Kimberly Kesling, deputy commander of clinical services at Darnall Army Medical Center.

Nearly 24 hours later, states away, there's another inexplicable act of violence. Armed with a gun, Jason Rodriguez returns to the engineering firm in Orlando that fired him more than two years ago.

Professionals say, even after two full years, if a person hasn't moved on and they don't seek help, all that pent up anger and resentment simply stews until they explode.

In this case, when asked by a reporter why he did it, Rodriguez replied, 'Because they left me to rot'.

"Maybe it would have made a difference in both of those cases if someone would have said, 'Gee looks like you're having a tough time today, what's going on?'" Mueller said.

Statistics show workplace violence has slowly crept up over the last 20 years. Experts believe statistics will show, during the recession, that number will get even higher. Whatever it is that drives someone to become violent, counselors say they often return to what's familiar and more often than not, those people never see it coming.

It turns out in the case of Major Hasan, there may have been at least one warning sign: while working at Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington DC he was apparently given poor performance evaluations. Reports indicate he may have been moved to Fort Hood for a fresh start.

Part of the investigation now is whether the army may have missed some warning signs.