PINE BLUFF, Ark. - A Tyson Foods Inc. employee who had just been
suspended from his job returned to the poultry processing plant carrying
two pistols and opened fire, wounding a co-worker before police shot
the gunman, officials said.
The victim was shot in the groin but
listed in good condition at a hospital Thursday morning. The 24-year-old
suspected gunman was in critical condition.
Tyson spokesman Gary
Mickelson said the worker had been escorted out of the plant Wednesday
evening but reappeared later that night with weapons.
"While
we're still gathering details, we can tell you plant supervisors began
evacuating 400 to 500 people from the plant after a worker was seen
carrying two guns," Mickelson said Thursday.
Arkansas State
Police spokesman Bill Sadler said Jefferson County sheriff's deputies
and local police responded. There was a brief standoff and officers from
both agencies fired, he said.
"I would just tell you this was a situation that could have been a whole lot worse than it was," Sadler said.
A
worker at the plant told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that the gunman
had a pistol in each hand and was looking for one employee in
particular.
"He shot behind me and beside me," Shuntae Kye told
the newspaper. "He had two guns in his hands, and he was walking through
the plant shooting."
Kye said employees scattered, trying to hide or get out.
The
suspected gunman, identified as Julian English, was hospitalized in
Little Rock in critical condition Thursday morning, University Hospital
spokesman Jon Parham said.
The victim, Ronny Smith, 34, was in good condition at Jefferson Regional Medical Center, spokeswoman Lisa Rowland said.
Tyson Foods, the world's largest meat producer, is based at Springdale.
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| 4/20/06
| AP