Everyone is baffled. Baffled, I say! Shooting spree baffles those close to 22-year-old Ford. (Hat tip: LGF readers.)

Michael Julius Ford did not drink. He did not smoke. He did not have conflicts with people.

He did not run with gangs. He wasn’t moody. He never was known to carry weapons.

What isn’t known is why the 22-year-old walked into work on Sunday at the Safeway distribution center and started shooting at his co-workers with a long- barreled handgun and setting fires inside the building.

It’s a real head-scratcher, all right. Couldn’t have anything to do with this:

However, Ford’s younger sister Khali told 9News her brother was upset because people were making fun of his religion at work.

“I don’t know what happened to him yesterday. It was like everything changed,” Khali said. “He told me that Allah was going to make a choice and it was going to be good and told me people at his job was making fun of his religion and he didn’t respect that.”

Ford was born and raised in Denver. He attended Montbello High School, and family members say he converted to Islam when he was 18.

Nah. No way.

Denver police think the cause may remain a mystery forever.

Denver police were unsure Monday why the mild-mannered Montbello High School graduate turned on colleagues shortly after reporting to work at 3 p.m., and Ford’s family tried to reconcile his final violent moments with the respectful, religious man they knew.

“We don’t have a strong motive yet, and I don’t know if we’ll know that,” Denver Police Chief Gerry Whitman said Monday. …

Whitman said Ford’s religious affiliation wasn’t a concern in the investigation.

UPDATE at 6/27/06 9:53:40 am:

To clarify my point without the sarcasm, the killings may have nothing to do with Ford’s religion. But the way everyone involved is tiptoeing around the subject is ridiculous.