Governor: Police Chief Chased, Shot Gunman at Kansas Factory

A criminal charge filed Friday alleges a Kansas woman unlawfully transferred guns to a convicted felon who was killed Thursday in a shootout with police in Hesston. She also helped him get a Glock Model 22 40-caliber handgun, police said.

Hesston Police Chief Doug Schroeder single-handedly took on the gunman identified by authorities as Cedric Ford, the officials said. They said Hopkins, at the time, told them Ford was a convicted felon and that barred him from possessing them, the affidavit said.

Jarrell said someone else eventually spelled him and that he was sitting in his truck in the parking lot when he saw Ford drive up in a truck that wasn’t his.

Three people were killed and 14 were wounded, but Harvey County Sheriff T. Walton said it could have been much worse. “… I’m not aware he said a thing”.

The shootings began about 5 p.m. when the gunman was in a auto and shot a man on the street in the nearby town of Newton, striking him in the shoulder. “The only reason why he stopped shooting is because that officer stopped the shooter”.

So far, authorities haven’t shed much light on Ford’s specific motivation.

The gunman was served a protection from abuse order about 90 minutes before the shooting in Hesston on Thursday, and this could have triggered the incident, local media reported on Friday, citing Harvey County Sheriff T. Walton.

The shooter had previous run-ins with the law, with the Broward County Sheriff’s Office noting that he’d been arrested twice in that South Florida county – in 2000 for auto break-ins and in 2004 for parole violations.

Later Thursday night, several law enforcement vehicles surrounded the suspect’s home in a Newton trailer park.

He also enjoyed listening to heavy metal music and talking about it with co-workers who shared his love for it. At that point, the gunman got a different gun and Espinoza ran.

Ford yelled “hey” at a bystander nearby and then shot that person, Jarrell said. “I mean, that vivid. Honestly, I… I didn’t know what was going to happen”. “I was flabbergasted. I was at a loss for words”.

Ford also was required to take an anger-management class in Harvey County in 2008 after he was convicted of disorderly conduct.

Another Excel employee, identified as Dylan by KSNW, rubbed blood from his hands – which came from helping a man who’d been shot – as he recalled the chaotic, horrific scene.