All three victims and 12 of the injured were shot at inside Excel Industries, a plant in Hesston that makes lawn mower products, Harvey County Sheriff T. Walton said. Of those hurt, 10 were critically wounded, he said.
Authorities have not officially identified the deceased suspect, but multiple co-workers identified the shooter to local media as Cedric Ford. Walton would not discuss a a motive, but told reporters there were "some things that triggered this individual."
The shootings began at about 5 p.m. local time, when the gunman was in a car and shot a man on the street in the nearby town of Newton, striking him in the shoulder. A short time later, another person was shot in the leg at an intersection. Authorities said the shooter stole the vehicle the second victim was driving.
"The shooter proceeded north to Excel Industries in Hesston, where one person was shot in the parking lot before he opened fire inside the building," the Hesston Police Department said in a release. "He was seen entering the building with an assault-style long gun."
Martin Espinoza, who works at Excel, was in the plant during the attack. 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 said the shooter pointed a gun at him and pulled the trigger, but the gun was empty. At that point, the gunman got a different gun and Espinoza ran.
"I took off running. He came outside after a few people, shot outside a few times, shot at the officers coming onto the scene at the moment and then reloaded in front of the company," Espinoza told The Associated Press. "After he reloaded he went inside the lobby in front of the building and that is the last I seen him."
A Hesston officer responding to the scene exchanged fire with the shooter, who was killed. The officer was not injured.
Walton said that about 150 people were likely in the plant at the time of the shooting and that the law enforcement officer who killed the suspect "saved multiple, multiple lives." He said the gunman also had a pistol.
The officer who killed the man is "a hero as far as I'm concerned," Walton said.
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