Alicia and James Ditty hug during a candlelight vigil at Heritage Park in Hesston, Kan., on Friday. Feb. 26, 2016. On Thursday, Cedric Ford, an employee of Excel Industries in Hesston, allegedly entered the factory and killed three people and wounded over a dozen others. Slayton works at Excel but wasn’t in the building at the time of the shooting. AP
Hesston, Kansas — Authorities say a 38-year-old man wounded three people before he stormed into the Kansas lawnmower parts factory where he worked and shot 15 others, killing three of them. A police officer killed Cedric Ford during an exchange of gunfire, ending the Thursday evening attack at the Excel Industries plant in Hesston, a small city about 30 miles north of Wichita.
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Here is a timeline of events in the case, according to the authorities and witnesses:
— Around 2:15 p.m.: Ford shows up on time for his shift at the plant, where he is a painter.
— Around 3:30 p.m.: Someone from the Harvey County sheriff’s office goes to the plant and serves Ford with a protection from abuse order.
— Around 4:30 p.m.: Ford doesn’t return from a break at the plant.
— Around 5 p.m.: Ford is driving in a residential area near a high school in the nearby community of Newton and shoots a man, wounding him. The man was driving with his two children and was shot in the shoulder. Another vehicle was hit with a bullet, but no one was struck.
— Minutes later: Ford drove into oncoming traffic, causing his vehicle and another one to go into a ditch. Ford then shot the motorist and took the person’s vehicle.
— Minutes after that: Ford pulls into the Excel plant’s parking lot and exits the vehicle carrying a rifle. He raises it and shoots someone, wounding the person, according to co-worker Matt Jarrell, who was watching from his truck. Ford then enters the building near the back, where his painting department is located, and begins shooting people.
— At 5:23 p.m.: A Hesston police officer who responded to the scene shoots and kills Ford during an exchange of gunfire.
READ: Sheriff: Cop who killed Kansas gunman a ‘tremendous hero’