A mass shooting in Kansas carried out by a disgruntled employee has left 14 people injured and three others dead. The incident ended when law enforcers shot and killed the gunman, who has been identified as 38-year-old Cedric Ford.
According to authorities, the incident began at 5 p.m. on Thursday after Ford, who was inside his car, shot a male pedestrian on the shoulder. Then, the suspect proceeded to an intersection where he wounded another victim in the leg and stole his car, CNN reported.
Ford then headed over to Excel Industries in Hesston, the lawn mower manufacturing plant where he worked. Upon entering the company's parking lot, he immediately shot an unsuspecting bystander. He then went inside the building where he opened fire on anyone he saw.
"I took off running," Ford's co-worker Marin Espinoza told the Associated Press according to Fox News. "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."
"After he reloaded he went inside the lobby in front of the building and that is the last I seen him," he added.
The ordeal ended after a police officer entered the building and directly confronted Ford, NY Daily News has learned.
Law enforcers have not yet revealed what type of firearm Ford used in the shooting. But according to eyewitnesses, he wielded a long assault-style rifle. Also, some of his Facebook pictures showed Ford carrying what appeared to be a Glock 17 pistol and an AK-47 rifle.
Investigators also decline to comment on Ford's possible motives for the shooting. But as noted by T. Walton of the Harvey County Sherriff, something might have triggered Ford to carry out the heinous crime. He also noted that law enforcers are not considering terrorism as a factor in this case.
The shooting happened just days after a similar incident shook Kalamazoo, Michigan when an Uber driver shot and killed at least five people left two other severely wounded in different areas in the city.
