By Cameron McWhirter and Laura Stevens
KENNESAW, Ga.--Three people were in critical condition at a
hospital Tuesday following an alleged shooting rampage by a FedEx
Corp. employee at a company sorting facility just north of Atlanta,
according to local police.
Six people were injured overall in the incident that began at
5:54 a.m., according to police. The victims, whose ages ranged from
19 to 52, were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment, according
to a spokeswoman for the WellStar Kennestone Hospital in Marietta,
Ga.
Those critically injured include two men and one woman. Of them,
a 28 year-old man and a 52 year-old woman were in surgery Tuesday
afternoon. The third man is 22 years old. One 38 year-old man was
in stable condition, and the remaining two victims, a 19 year-old
man and a 42 year-old woman, were being released, the spokeswoman
said.
Cobb County police spokesman Sgt. D.L. Pierce didn't identify
the alleged shooter, but said he did work at the Kennesaw FedEx
Ground facility as a package handler. Police found the man dead
from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said. They
found a shotgun near his body.
The attack appears to have started at the security checkpoint
for the facility and then moved inside the building, according to
Kennesaw Police spokesman Scott Luther. He said that the alleged
gunman was carrying a shotgun with several rounds of ammunition,
and witnesses said he was wearing an ammunition belt.
FedEx and other package companies typically have package sorters
and drivers enter work through security checkpoints each morning,
including a metal detector scan.
Police and other law-enforcement agencies, including the FBI,
were investigating the crime scene. Police dog teams were going
through the area "just to make sure there are no secondary
[explosive] devices which the shooter may have planted," Sgt.
Pierce said.
FedEx said in a statement that "the situation is now stabilized
and we are focused on the needs of our team members and cooperating
with the law-enforcement investigation of this tragedy." Police
declined to comment on any motivation for the shooting. They said
they were trying to piece together exactly what happened.
Employees and families gathered at a skating rink and arcade
near the FedEx Ground facility to await further information.
About two hours after he clocked in this morning, Collin
Harrison, a 22-year-old package handler, said he heard a man, then
a woman scream loudly. "I heard over one of my manager's walkie
talkies, 'Everybody get out of the building,'" he said. "I looked
over my shoulder to see the gunman holding his shot gun dressed all
in black" and with shotgun shells strapped across his chest, he
added.
He said that security officers at the door aren't armed.
A local TV station showed a FedEx employee saying she saw the
alleged shooter dressed in black and a camouflage vest, with
bullets strapped across his chest. He was also carrying a foot-long
knife, she said. "He looked like he was heading into war," she
added. She said she ran away, yelling out warnings to other
employees. The employee couldn't be reached independently.
Numerous police and emergency vehicles blocked the entrance of
the 500,000-square-foot FedEx Ground complex just south of the Cobb
County Airport Tuesday morning. As security teams made their way
through for inspections, rows of large white FedEx Corp. trucks sat
idle at loading bays. From a distance, no employees could be
seen.
Write to Cameron McWhirter at cameron.mcwhirter@wsj.com and
Laura Stevens at laura.stevens@wsj.com
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