Chad Brunson shot on New Year’s Eve

Kenton Neuhouser says, "Brutal killing reminds all of us about risks employees shoulder...I can’t get Chad Brunson out of my head."

"I think about him every day. Chad was shot in the head on New Year’s Eve. He wasn’t at a party like most 23-year-olds, but at work in a pizza store where two robbers who were out to steal a few bucks from the register also murdered Brunson. He was a dedicated, longtime employee who, according to his father, loved his job. I’m sure he also loved his life outside of work and had a lot of dreams well beyond his years. I mourn for Brunson and his family. I am chilled by the senselessness of the killing and the heartlessness and evil that obviously lurks inside his killers."

Kenton Neuhouser owns Neuhouser Nursery & Landscaping and Neuhouser Gardens & Gifts in Fort Wayne,IN. If you have ever had or been involved in a family business you know for the most part they are ran like family and many of the small businesses stick together as the farmers once did.

Family business are out to make a dollar also but work more closely with their employees and tend to have concerns other than just the bottom line. I know having had a small business that we were picky as to whom we worked for, what was done, when our next birthday or carry in was, and who was getting married and having babies. We were down to earth and had relationships with our employees. So I really can relate with Mr. Neuhouser and his concerns.

"Since Brunson’s shooting – in January alone – we’ve heard about crimes locally including these:

♦A store clerk was terrorized by a knife-wielding thief.

♦A bank was held up by a robber using a semi-automatic gun.

♦A tanning salon and a Subway restaurant both were robbed at gunpoint.

In the recent past, local employees have been forced at gunpoint to lie on the floor or were locked in freezers, and a female gas-station attendant was seriously beaten after being robbed. I can only imagine that all these terrifying incidents are life-changing."


Mr. Neuhouser goes on to talk about the fear these violent acts inflict, criminals, small business difficulty, the importance of his employees, and how the ones dealing with the violence were just trying to make a living. Read the full article