An exec "despondent" over being demoted at a Chicago technology firm shot his boss and killed himself during a one-on-one meeting yesterday, police say. ArrowStream CEO Steven LaVoie, 54, was shot twice as he struggled for the gun with former chief technology officer Tony DeFrances, reports the Chicago Tribune. LaVoie is in critical condition with head and stomach wounds. DeFrances, 60, had been with the supply technology firm since its inception in 2000 and was second in command before his demotion last week.
"What we have here is a workplace violence issue," a police spokesman tells NBC. The company has "been undergoing a downsizing. They've demoted a number of people," he says. Both men were married with three children and they had apparently been longtime friends. "They had been friends for years—a congenial relationship between two friends," a police source tells the Tribune. DeFrances did not have a concealed carry permit or an Illinois firearm owner's card, and it's not clear where he got the 9 mm pistol he used in the attack, ABC7 notes. (More attempted murder stories.)
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
