Mobile phone row sparked Kentucky killings

A 25-year-old press operator shot and killed five co-workers and himself at a plastics plant in rural western Kentucky just hours after arguing with his supervisor about not wearing safety goggles and using his mobile phone while on the assembly line, police said.

Authorities said Wesley Higdon was so riled by the argument with his supervisor that he called his girlfriend and told her that he wanted to kill his boss.

The girlfriend didn’t warn anyone, police said, and just two hours later he argued with another co-worker at a petrol station near the plant, then returned and shot and killed his supervisor as they walked outside. He went back inside and shot at co-workers in a break room and on the plant floor.

A man who called authorities frantically described the violent scene yesterday morning to a dispatcher, tallying up the number of dead around him.

“There’s more than two people dead. There’s like one, two, three, four, five people dead,” the man said. “The supervisor is dead, too.”

Authorities said Higdon was known to keep a .45-calibre pistol in his car, which is not illegal in Kentucky.

The first shooting took place as the supervisor was escorting him from the building. Other co-workers were shot in the break room and on the plant floor. One worker was injured and was being treated in the critical care unit at St. Mary’s Hospital and Medical Centre in Evansville, Indiana.

“He just walked in, looked like he meant business and started shooting at everybody,” Henderson Police Sgt. John Nevels said at a news conference.

The killings stunned the Ohio River town of about 28,000 people, where a local leader said many residents know or are related to a worker at the plant.

The plant, operated by Atlanta-based Atlantis plastics, employs about 160 people and makes parts for refrigerators and plastic siding for homes.

Henderson County Coroner Bruce Farmer identified the supervisor as Kevin G. Taylor, 30. The dead co-workers were Trisha Mirelez, 25; Rachael Vasquez, 26; Joshua Hinojosa, 28; and Israel Monroy, 29. The survivor who was treated in hospital was identified as Monroy’s sister, Noelia Monroy.

“Our whole community is in shock,” Henderson County Judge-Executive Sandy Watkins said.

The plant sent employees home yesterday, but the company said that it hoped to resume limited operations at night. Atlantis Plastics CEO Bud Philbrook said the company was reeling.

Investigators were trying to piece together the timing of the shooting spree. Philbrook said that Higdon didn’t appear to have any previous disciplinary problems at the plant.

A prayer vigil was held for the victims last night at the Henderson County Courthouse.