The Harvey County sheriff said four people, including the gunman, are dead and 14 people injured after a series of shootings Thursday in south-central Kansas.
Sheriff T. Walton said at a news conference Thursday evening that all the dead were shot inside Excel Industries, which makes lawn mower products in Hesston, north of Wichita. He said law enforcement killed the shooter, who was an employee.
The sheriff said shootings also took place in the plant parking lot and two other locations nearby. He said the gunman, who traveled between sites firing from his car, was armed with a long gun and a handgun, according to The Kansas City Star.
Seven people are being treated at Via Christi Hospital St. Francis in Wichita, a spokeswoman told the Wichita Eagle. Five are in serious condition and two were in fair condition, she said.
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.
Walton said a lot was still unknown about the Kansas attacks, including whether the shooter was still employed at Excel Industries. He told KAKE-TV he wasn't sure if the man had been fired.
"I don't have a lot of answers," Walton said.
Martin Espinoza, who works at Excel, was in the plant during the shooting. He heard people yelling to others to get out of the building, then heard popping, then saw the shooter, a co-worker he described as typically pretty calm.
Espinoza told The Associated Press 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.
"I looked right at him and he looked right at me," Espinoza said.
KSN-TV footage showed a large law enforcement presence at Excel Industries and at least one person being loaded into an ambulance. A college nearby was briefly locked down.
Hesston is a community of about 3,700 residents about 35 miles north of Wichita. Excel Industries was awarded the Governor's Exporter of the Year award in 2013 from the Kansas Department of Commerce. The company manufactures Hustler and Big Dog mowing equipment and was founded in Hesston in 1960. The Eagle said the company employed about 1,000 people.
Walton said the FBI and the Kansas Bureau of Investigation had been called in to assist.
A spokeswoman for the Kansas City office of the FBI did not immediately return a call seeking comment on Thursday night.
"This is just a horrible incident. ... There's going to be a lot of sad people before this is all over," Walton said.
Cc: Oregon
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