A gunman has killed three people and wounded 14 in a series
of shootings in a Kansas industrial area.
Harvey County sheriff T Walton said the attacks happened at
the Excel Industries factory, a car park outside the plant and two other
locations in Hesston.
Ten of the injured were said to be in a critical condition.
He said the gunman, an Excel employee who was eventually
killed by a police officer, traveled between the sites, opening fire from his
car. All the dead were shot inside the factory.
Police guard the front door of Excel Industries in Hesston,
Kan., Thursday, Feb. 25, 2016, where a gunman killed an undetermined number of
people and injured many more.
Police guard the front door of Excel Industries
Authorities surrounded the gunman’s home in the city of
Newton, believing his room-mate may be inside, but later stood down when no-one
else was found there.
The sheriff’s office is investigating the attacks along with
the FBI and Kansas Bureau of Investigation. A nearby collegewas briefly locked
down during the incident.
Excel Industries, established in 1960, makes Hustler and Big
Dog lawn mower parts in Hesston, a community of about 3,700 and about 35 miles
north of Wichita.
EMS workers gather a staging area by Excel Industries in
Hesston, Kan., Thursday, Feb. 25, 2016, where a gunman killed an undetermined
number of people and injured many more.
EMS workers gather a staging area
An employee said he was in the plant during the shooting
when he heard people yelling to get out of the building.
Martin Espinoza said he heard a popping sound then saw the
gunman, who he said was a co-worker he described as typically pretty calm.
Mr Espinoza said the shooter pointed a gun at him and pulled
the trigger, but the gun was empty. The attacker then got a different gun and
Mr Espinoza ran away.
Police go through the parking lot of Excel Industries in
Hesston, Kan., Thursday, Feb. 25, 2016, where a gunman killed an undetermined
number of people and injured many more.
Police go through the parking lot
‘I looked right at him and he looked right at me,’ he said.
‘I took off running. He came outside after a few people,
shot outside a few times, shot at the officers coming on to the scene at the
moment and then reloaded in front of the company.
‘After he reloaded he went inside the lobby in front of the
building and that is the last I seen him.’
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The shooting comes less than a week after authorities say a
man opened fire at several locations in Kalamazoo, Michigan, leaving six people
dead and two severely wounded.
Sheriff Walton said about 150 people were in the factory at
the time of the shooting and the officer who killed the gunman ‘saved multiple,
multiple lives’.
He said the gunman had an assault weapon and a pistol.
The officer who killed the man was ‘a hero as far as I’m
concerned’, Sheriff Walton said.
‘This is a fairly peaceful community and to have something
like this is tragic.”
The sheriff would not discuss a motive, but said “there was
some things that triggered this individual’.
‘This is just a horrible incident. There’s going to be a lot
of sad people before this is all over,’ he added.
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