County sheriff: Multiple deaths, injuries in Kansas workplace shooting

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta-A gunman killed three people on Thursday, February 26, at a manufacturing plant in central Kansas where he worked and wounded 14 others, in a shooting spree spanning several miles that ended when a lone officer killed the suspect, authorities said.

A workplace shooting in Hesston, Kansas, left multiple people dead, including the gunman, on Thursday afternoon, according to local law enforcement officials. Kansas.com says the shooter, who was armed with a long rifle-an AK-47, according to one witness-as well as a handgun, was shot dead by law enforcement between 5:30 and 5:45 p.m. today. Sheriff T Walton of Harvey County, the local jurisdictional area, told journalists that the shootings involved “a number of crime scenes“.

Wesley Medical Center is treating three patients, said the facility’s spokeswoman Susan Burchill. “We didn’t know they were getting shot”. “We’re working on that”, Walton said. He says the suspect was an Excel employee and was shot and killed.

He said the shooter is also believed to have had a pistol.

He added that the gunman began “actively shooting at any targets that came into his sights” from his vehicle even before he got into the plant.

Espinoza says the shooter pointed a gun at him and pulled the trigger, but the gun was empty. At that point, the shooter got a different gun and Martin took off running.

Pierce said a coworker who looked in a hallway to investigate was shot in the leg. The 15-20 people who were in his department escaped through a side door, he said.

KSN-TV footage showed a large law enforcement presence at Excel Industries and at least one person being loaded into an ambulance. Nearby Hesston College recently had it’s lockdown lifted.

Hesston is a city of 3,700 people and is about 36 miles northwest of Wichita.

After that he drove to the plant, which manufactures heavy-duty lawn care equipment, where he opened fire before being killed by police.

Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback and Wichita police offered condolences to the victims on Twitter.

Walton told reporters that the sheriff’s office just recently had a meeting about how to respond to an active shooter situation.

The officer who killed the man is “a hero as far as I’m concerned”, Walton said.

Harvey County Sheriff T. Walton gave the updated death count at a news conference Thursday night.

“Hesston College took precautionary measures and went into immediate lockdown when reports were received about the Excel Industries shooting”.