A gunman opened fire at an engine manufacturing plant near Chicago today killing four people and wounding at least four others before apparently killing himself, authorities said.
The shooting - the latest in a series of violent attacks at work and in public places in the United States - erupted in a testing area at the Navistar International Corp. engine manufacturing plant in Melrose Park.
The Cook County Medical Examiner's office said it had confirmed five deaths in the shooting. Mr Rod Serpico, mayor of the blue collar suburban community, said police had told him the man was carrying an AK-47 rifle when he walked onto the factory floor.
There were conflicting reports over whether the gunman was a former or current employee at the sprawling complex,.
The company said access to the area is controlled and that only someone with an authorised card verified by an automatic reader should have been able to gain access.
Mr Serpico said he had been told the gunman was a former employee, who fellow workers said had left the company around two years ago after being accused of theft. His was believed to be among the bodies still inside the plant several hours after the shooting, according to local broadcast reports.
There have been a string of shootings in recent years in US workplaces, schools and churches, the last recorded in Wakefield, Massachusetts, in December 2000, when a man opened fire at the Edgewater Technology Co., killing seven co-workers.
The injured in today's shooting included a 24-year-old man in critical condition and a 26-year-old man in fair condition at Loyola University Medical Center, a spokesman said. A 45-year-old man was in critical condition with wounds to his back and abdomen, and another man was shot in the foot.
News of the shooting quickly spread through the plant, which employs 1,400, prompting workers to flee. The facility was later closed for the day and the workers were sent home.
Reuters