Fired Employee Arrested Over Threats to Bosses

Police arrested an armed man Tuesday after he allegedly threatened to “terminate” three supervisors who had fired him from his job at a Downey animal shelter.

Norman E. Chodrick, 48, of Long Beach was booked and in custody for investigation of making terrorist threats, a felony, said Downey Police Lt. Steve Douglass. Chodrick, a kennel worker at the Southeast Area Animal Control Authority, was fired Tuesday morning because he had erred in putting a dog to sleep, said shelter operations manager Albert Borchardt.

Borchardt said he asked another employee to call police after Chodrick allegedly threatened him and two other supervisors. Police found a gun, ammunition clips and about 70 bullets in a bag Chodrick was carrying, Douglass said. Chodrick did not directly threaten his supervisors with the gun, Douglass said.