A convicted felon was ordered to stay away from a former girlfriend and obtained two firearms from another woman before killing three people and wounding 14 during a shooting rampage that ended at a factory in central Kansas, investigators said.
Cedric Ford was fatally shot during a shootout with the chief of police in Hesston, a town about 50km north of Wichita, after opening fire on Thursday at the Excel Industries lawnmower parts plant where he worked, authorities said on Friday.
Federal prosecutors charged Sarah Hopkins, of nearby Newton, with one count of knowingly transferring a firearm to a convicted felon on Friday.
Photo: AP
Prosecutors allege that Hopkins, a friend of Ford’s, knew he was a convicted felon when she gave him a semi-automatic rifle and a handgun.
Authorities have said Ford, 38, was armed with an assault rifle and a pistol.
Harvey County Sheriff T. Walton said that Hesston Police Chief Doug Schroeder was a “tremendous hero.”
Walton said between 200 and 300 people were in the factory at the time, and the “shooter wasn’t done by any means when Schroeder chased and shot him.”
“Had that Hesston officer not done what he did, this would be a whole lot more tragic,” Walton said.
Authorities identified the dead as Brian Sadowsky, 44, Josh Higbee, 31, and Renee Benjamin, 30.
All three victims worked at the plant and were killed inside the building.
Walton said his office served Ford with a protection-from-abuse order at about 3:30pm on Thursday, about 90 minutes before the first shooting happened, adding that such orders are usually filed because there is some type of violence in a relationship.
He did not disclose the nature of the relationship in question.
A judge issued a temporary order of protection earlier this month for a woman who said Ford was a violent, depressed alcoholic.
The woman said she and Ford were arguing on Feb. 5 when he grabbed her, placed her in a choke hold from behind and took her to the ground.
“It’s my belief he is in desperate need of medical and psychological help!” she wrote.
Authorities on Friday said Ford had a history of domestic violence, including an arrest in Newton in November 2008 for felony battery and disorderly conduct.
Investigators said that while driving to the factory on Thursday, Ford shot a man on the street, striking him in the shoulder, and later shot someone in the leg at an intersection.
He also shot one person in the factory parking lot before opening fire inside the building, according to the sheriff’s office, they said.
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