A worker at a fire hydrant plant in Alabama pulled out a gun and began firing early Tuesday, killing two people and wounding two more, before going on the run and shooting himself dead.
The gunfire broke out about 2.30am at a Mueller Co. plant in Albertville, Police Chief Jamie Smith told news outlets. The gunman then got in a vehicle and left the factory.
The unidentified shooter was found dead with a self-inflicted gunshot wound around 6am in nearby Guntersville, Smith told .
Guntersville is located some 26 miles northwest of Albertville.
Smith says it wasn't immediately clear what prompted the shooting.
'Everything humanly possible is being done at this time to locate the person responsible,' Smith said in a statement.
A company representative did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
Ann Walters, a resident of Boaz, Alabama, told AL.com that her grandson, Michael Lee Dobbins, 27, was one of the Mueller employees killed on Tuesday.
Walters said her grandson started working at the plant around 10 months ago. She said he was grateful to finally have a decent paying job.
'He was fixing to buy a home, and he wanted to buy a car for his girlfriend,' Walters said.
'He was a perfect gentleman, everybody will tell you. He was good to everybody and put his family first.'
'I don’t know how to take it,' Allen told AL.com.
'I’m still in shock. It could have happened anywhere. But we just got word the shooter shot himself.
'I hate that it went down like that. But I hate it for my family.'
Mueller Co., based in Cleveland, Tennessee, is a subsidiary of Atlanta-based Mueller Water Products Inc., which calls itself a leading maker of water distribution and measurement products in North America.
It operates 11 plants in the United States and Canada.
More than 400 people work at the plant in Albertville, giving the city in northwest Alabama its nickname of 'Fire Hydrant Capital of the World.'
A maintenance worker from North Carolina arrived at the plant early Tuesday, unaware of the deadly shooting hours earlier.
John McFalls said he spent five days in the plant last week and saw nothing out of the ordinary.
'Everyone here was friendly,' he told Al.com. 'Radios playing, everybody getting along.'
He swallowed hard as he heard what had happened, the news site reported.
'I was thinking about coming in early this morning and getting the jump on everything,' McFalls said.
'It's kind of shocking, and then it isn't, given the state of the world.'
Albertville Mayor Tracy Honea said he was informed of the shooting early Tuesday morning.
'It’s certainly a tragic day for the community,' Honea said. “Mueller has been a great partner for the city.'