Two killed, two injured as gunman opens fire at coworkers in U.S. state of Alabama

WASHINGTON, June 16, (Xinhua/GNA) – Two people were killed and another two injured after a gunman opened fire Tuesday morning inside a fire hydrant factory in the U.S. state of Alabama, before later taking his own life, police said.

The shooting occurred about 2:30 a.m. at the Mueller Co. plant in the city of Albertville, according to local police chief Jamie Smith. “For an unknown reason an employee of the industry began firing a weapon at fellow employees,” Smith said in a statement. The two injured employees, whose identities were not released, were taken to Marshall Medical Center South for treatment, Smith said. The names of the victims won’t be released until their next of kin have been notified.

The suspected gunman, whose name was not revealed, fled the scene after the shooting. The suspect and his vehicle were located just before 6:00 a.m. in the area of Carlisle Street in Guntersville, where police found the man “deceased from what appears to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound,” Smith said, adding there was no danger to the public.

Albertville Police Department said in a statement that businesses in the industrial park where Mueller Co. is located are free to conduct business as normal.

Mueller Co. is an industrial manufacturing company specializing in potable water distribution products, including fire hydrants. The company has 11 locations across the United States and Canada, according to its website.
GNA