A shooting at an Athens, Tenn., factory Thursday afternoon left three people dead, including the suspected gunman.
Advertisement
Dispatch confirmed to 10News a call about the shooting came in around 4:16 p.m. Thursday. He returned shortly afterward, went to the office and found his supervisors, James Zotter, 44, and Sandra Cooley, 68.
An employee at an East Tennessee plant fatally shot his two supervisors after walking out of a meeting with them and returning with a gun, authorities said Friday.
The shooter’s body was found in a bathroom, dead of what “appears to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound”, Athens Police Chief Charles Ziegler said.
“Yesterday, we lost colleagues in a senseless act of violence”, said Thomas & Betts operations manager Pat Joyce.
“We can not confirm any information on any of the victims”, he said. “The ABB family is shocked and saddened by the tragedy”, adding that grief counselors are being made available to employees.
“This is still a fairly small community, and folks know each other”, McMinn County Sheriff Joe Guy said.
Vigils began within hours of a shooting Thursday that claimed two lives before the gunman took his own life at an Athens industrial plant.
The Knoxville News Sentinel reported that all three were employees of Thomas & Betts Corp.
According to The Daily Post-Athenian, the neighboring high school, McMinn County High School, was placed on lockdown because it is close to the site of the shooting. It means we’ve got a good supportive work group.
Tennessee Bureau of Investigation agents also responded to the scene, along with the Tennessee Highway Patrol. “I had several personal longtime friends in there when the shooting was going on”.
“I am heartbroken today. We have absolutely no understanding of what motivated the perpetrator, but you have our promise that we are cooperating with law enforcement in every possible way”, said Joyce during a news conference Friday.
Advertisement
“All of us at ABB mourn this tragic loss”, he wrote.
