Factory worker kills three in gun rampage

JEFFERSON City police were yesterday investigating why a Missouri plant employee shot and killed three co-workers and wounded five others on Tuesday night, before apparently fatally shooting himself.

The man, who was due to be clocking in to start the night shift at Modine Manufacturing Co, opened fire without warning shortly before 10.30pm. He then fled the plant and engaged in a gunfight with police before dying outside police headquarters a few miles away, officials said.

Two of the victims were found dead at the plant, while six others were taken to hospitals, where one later died, according to Jefferson City police.

The shooter, a man in his 20s, had worked for Modine for about two years, and there was no immediately apparent motive for his actions, said company spokesman Mick Lucareli.

Modine officials suspended operations and were providing grief counselling for the 270 workers at the plant, which manufactures radiators for agriculture and construction.