A man who wounded three people before storming into the central Kansas factory where he worked and shooting 15 others, killing three of them, had just been served a protection from abuse order that likely triggered the attack, a sheriff said Friday.
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Police fatally shot Ford during the shooting at Excel Industries in nearby Hesston on Thursday.
“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 department said in a release.
As to his encounters with law enforcement in Kansas, Walton said briefly, “He’s been in my jail a couple of times before”.
Walton said the shooter would have fired “until he was out of ammo”. It included burglary and grand theft in 2004, fleeing from police in 2000, fleeing and eluding police in Pembroke Pines in 2000, and possession of burglary tools and prowling in Miramar in 1997.
Records show Ford had a criminal history in Broward County.
The federal Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearm bureau has taken responsibility for investigating the nature of the guns and ammo.
Videos can be seen on Ford’s Facebook page that appear to be from a recent zoo visit.
A call to a phone number listed for her was not answered. Court records do not indicate Hopkins has an attorney.
The woman checked the box on the form that indicated she had formerly been in a dating relationship with Ford and that the two had lived together. Newton police later met her at the home so she could retrieve the weapons, which she had purchased. He was killed in an exchange of gunfire with the first police officer to reach the scene.
In Kansas, he had a misdemeanor conviction in a 2008 fighting or brawling case and various traffic violations from 2014 and 2015.
Walton at a news conference Friday morning declined to detail who requested the protection order, saying the investigation was still in its early stages.
The shooting comes less than a week after authorities say a man opened fire at several locations in Kalamazoo, Michigan, leaving six people dead and two severely wounded. Authorities have not disclosed a possible motive in those attacks.
Walton said his office served the suspect with the protection from abuse order at around 3:30 p.m., which was about 90 minutes before the first shooting happened. “It’s my belief he’s in desperate need of medical and psychological help”.
Matt Jarrell, a friend and co-worker who witnessed at least one person being shot, told CNN affiliate KSNW that “never in a million years” would he expect Ford – one of the few people he was close to at work – to do something like this.
Jarrell said he sped away when he saw Ford shoot someone and then enter the building. The shooter shot the other driver as he exited his vehicle, took the vehicle and drove it to Excel Industries, lawnmower parts factory, where he worked.
Espinoza told The Associated Press 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.
“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 said.
Kansas law doesn’t require a permit to buy long guns or handguns, which don’t have to be registered.
Dennis Britton Jr. suffered a fracture in his right leg when a bullet went through his buttocks and out his leg.
“What crossed my mind was finding the bad buy, protecting everyone else who was there”, Carter said about arriving at the plant where some of his relatives work. He says his son heard a pop and then went to the ground.
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Hesston is about 36 miles northwest of Wichita.
