Heather Butler found out her father was shot when he called her early this morning.
“He called me after being admitted in the hospital,” the 29-year-old Columbus resident said.
Henry Butler, 60, was shot in his left shoulder Tuesday around 3:30 a.m and taken to Ohio State University Medical Center. The OSU operations shift leader was shot by Nathaniel Brown, a 51-year-old custodian. Brown also shot and killed building services manager Larry Wallington, 48, before killing himself.
Brown was at the end of his probationary period as a custodian, and had received a negative work report. Butler himself reported Brown had been sleeping on the job, according to work records. Feb. 12, Henry Butler requested probationary work removal for Brown.
Heather Butler said she had never heard her father complain about his work at OSU, or any of his employees.
“He spent 11 years at OSU,” she said. “He liked working there.”
Butler also said she had met some of her father’s OSU friends, but had never met Wallington.
Butler remained in the hospital with her father all of Tuesday, with her cousins as company, she said. Her brother was in and out of the hospital with her, while her mother was still on her way to the hospital from Florida after visiting family.
“I’ve been talking to [mom] all morning,” Butler said. “She’s fine, she’s a little [upset], but she’s good.”
Butler said she and her father are very close.
“We try to do everything together,” she said. “There’s lots of family time together to go on trips and stuff.”
While Butler underwent surgery on his shoulder, Butler said she remained optimistic.
“It hasn’t been too scary,” she said. “It’s just a matter of distracting ourselves.”
