Walton said Friday Ford would have kept shooting if a police officer had not stopped him.
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“He didn’t display anything that was outrageous”, Walton said. The lockdown began at about 5:20 p.m. Thursday.
The sheriff says deputies first began responding to a report of a shooting at 12th and Meridian where a man had been shot in the shoulder as he drove down the road.
Before driving to the plant, the man fired from his vehicle, the sheriff said.
Ford had been jailed a couple of times before, Walton said. Some of the victims in the shooting were gunned down at Excel, a lawn-care products factory. “Those conditions range from stable to critical and one is going to surgery as we speak”, said Sheriff T. Walton. There he shot 14 more people, three of whom were fatalities, according to Walton. About 200 to 300 people were inside the building at the time, according to law enforcement estimates.
A 28-year-old woman from Newton was charged on Friday with illegally transferring two guns to Ford, said U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom of Kansas in a statement.
He was killed in an exchange of gunfire with the first police officer to reach the scene, Hesston Police Chief Doug Schroeder, police secretary Jeannine Hoheisel said.
Sheriff Walton called him a hero.
“It’s normal when someone gets served a protection of abuse order” to be upset, Walton said this morning, explaining that Ford’s behavior wasn’t abnormal when he was served.
Carter said he was just doing his job. “The only reason he stopped shooting is because that officer stopped the shooter”. Employees directed him to the victims inside the building. The shooter was an Excel employee, according to police. The police heard loud music in the residence and knocked on the door and could not get in. An emergency response team later entered and did not find anyone inside the home.
“This is just a terrible incident that happened here”, he said.
A spokeswoman for the Kansas City office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation did not immediately return a call seeking comment Thursday night. “They are happening all over the place”.
Jarrell said someone else eventually spelled him and that he was sitting in his truck in the parking lot when he saw Ford drive up in a truck that wasn’t his. “We are going to do this right”.
Walton told NBC News early Friday that Ford used the assault rifle during the rampage, but did not appear to fire his pistol. They are investigating who purchased the guns and under what circumstances. The Harvey County Sheriff’s Department initially said authorities believed the suspect’s roommate could be inside.
“This will take some time to work through”, Walton said.
NBC reports that court records showed that Ford, 38, was a felon who previously lived in Miami and was on probation with a series of convictions in Florida including burglary.
She added, “He placed me in a choke hold from behind – I couldn’t (breathe)”. He says his son heard a pop and then went to the ground. The bullet went through her windshield. Court records show he completed the course. In addition, Ford had a history of domestic abuse.
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The woman described Ford as an “alcoholic, violent(ly) depressed”. “It’s my belief he’s in desperate need of medical and psychological help”.
