The toughest week in PR

On Feb. 26, a gunman opened fire at the Molson Coors brewery in Milwaukee, killing five co-workers before turning the weapon on himself. The attack stunned the city and sparked a national conversation around workplace safety, mental health, and lingering concerns about racism and harassment within the company’s culture.

It was the deadliest mass shooting in the United States this year—and the eleventh in Wisconsin since 2004.

The shooting began just after 2 p.m. at the Molson Coors campus in Milwaukee’s Miller Valley, a sprawling facility that houses both corporate offices and brewing operations. Around 1,000 employees were on site that afternoon.

The gunman, 51-year-old Anthony Ferrill, was a longtime electrician who had worked at the brewery for 17 years. After completing his shift, he entered Building 4 during a shift change, armed with two handguns—one outfitted with a silencer.

Witnesses reported seeing a wounded co-worker moments before text alerts instructed staff to shelter in place. By the time police arrived, Ferrill had died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Five employees had been killed. The incident was initially treated as an active shooter situation, prompting a response from local authorities and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

All five victims were Molson Coors employees. Police identified them as: Jesus Valle Jr., 33; Gennady “Gene” Levshetz, 61; Trevor Wetselaar, 33; Dana Walk, 57; and Dale Hudson, 60.

Anthony Ferrill, the 51-year-old gunman, had worked as an electrician at Molson Coors for roughly 17 years. Colleagues described him as competent and generally upbeat, making the shooting all the more shocking to those who knew him. He lived in Milwaukee with his wife and daughter.

Ferrill had a history of legal troubles, including a 1991 disorderly conduct charge for allegedly pointing a gun at a vehicle and a 1995 misdemeanor battery charge involving an alleged assault on a woman. Both cases were ultimately dismissed.

Neighbors said Ferrill was known to be a firearm enthusiast who often carried weapons. One recalled seeing what appeared to be a gun safe delivered to his home, which was outfitted with multiple surveillance cameras.

The public faces

Front and center to the communications response was Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett. 

“It’s a very rough day for anybody who is close to this situation,” Barrett told the AP.

Tom Barrett graduated from Marquette University High School before earning a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1976. He went on to receive his law degree from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 1980, working on the Harley-Davidson assembly line to help pay his way through school.

After law school, Barrett clerked for U.S. District Judge Robert W. Warren in the Eastern District of Wisconsin from 1980 to 1982. He later practiced law privately and worked as a bank examiner for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

Tom Barrett was elected mayor of Milwaukee in 2004, defeating Acting Mayor Marvin Pratt, who had stepped into the role following the resignation of John Norquist. Barrett was reelected in 2008 with 79% of the vote—the highest margin for a Milwaukee mayoral candidate in 40 years. He secured a third term in 2012 with more than 70% of the vote against Edward McDonald, and a fourth in 2016, defeating Alderman Robert Donovan with the same margin. In 2020, Barrett won a fifth term, earning over 62% of the vote in a race against state Sen. Lena Taylor.

Gavin Hattersley, CEO of Molson Coors, took charge in communicating the tragedy to his employees. He told the company's employees that an employee opened fire at the Milwaukee Brewery, killing five coworkers before dying himself, prompting the company to shut down operations temporarily to support grieving staff.

"Unfortunately, I am devastated to share that we lost five other members of our family in this tragic incident. The police are still working to notify their relatives, so I am unable to provide other information at this time," Hattersley wrote.

At Edelman, the global public relations and marketing consultancy, Patrick Hillmann serves as executive vice president for crisis and risk. He leads the development of crisis response strategies for a broad portfolio of international clients.

In the already intense week, Hillmann juggled communications for the mass shooting and the first major U.S. COVID-19 outbreak at a Hawaiian resort. He leaned heavily on predictive data, digital targeting, and a suite of advanced tools to steer messaging through the chaos.

Early in his career, Patrick Hillmann served as a consultant to the European Commission, working within the Directorate-General for External Relations—the EU’s equivalent of the U.S. State Department. He served there during Russia's invasion of Georgia that August, when most of the commission staff was on holiday. Hillmann was one of the few people still working.

Before landing at Edelman, Hillmann co-founded the Sortie Group, a firm specializing in predictive analytics and microtargeting. The company focused on helping clients navigate high-stakes challenges by leveraging consumer and voter data to craft precise, data-driven communication strategies.

In February 2020, a Japanese tourist who vacationed in Hawaii tested positive for COVID-19 after returning to Japan, raising alarms about possible exposure across the islands. During the trip, he and his wife stayed at hotels in Maui and Waikiki, dined at local restaurants, and shopped in Honolulu—stoking fears that the virus may have spread at some of Hawaii’s most popular tourist spots. Although 56 people in the state self-monitored as a precaution, no cases were directly linked to the traveler.

Hawaii reported its first confirmed COVID-19 case on March 6, 2020. It involved an Oʻahu resident who had traveled aboard the Grand Princess cruise ship—not a resort guest or hotel worker.

Hawaii’s first case of community transmission was reported in mid-March 2020 and involved an employee at Kualoa Ranch, a popular tourist destination and working cattle ranch on Oʻahu’s windward coast. The individual had no recent travel history, signaling the virus was spreading locally. In response, the ranch temporarily closed, and at least 25 close contacts were tested as a precaution.

Adam Collins, Molson Coors’ Chief of Communications, addressed the media about the company’s response to the tragedy: "What happened last week was horrifying. It’s hard to put into words the grief, and the trauma, and emotion that people are feeling. We’re all grieving. We lost teammates, lost friends, lost co-workers. That is hard. We lost them at work, in a place for a lot of people feels at home.”