Kia Plant Shooting - Shortly after 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, a person went into the general assembly plant at Kia Motors Manufacturing Georgia in West Point and shot his co-worker. The injured victim was reportedly airlifted to Midtown Medical Center in Columbus, after which he identified only one person as the shooter in the Kia Plant shooting incident.
The suspected shooter in the Kia Plant shooting has been put in custody after having been identified by the victim, according to La Grange Daily News.
Police swept the plant for additional suspects, but soon the lockdown on the plant following the Kia Plant shooting has been lifted. However, officials announced later that plant operations were suspended for the night, reported WSB-TV Atlanta.
According to authorities, the Kia Plant shooting Tuesday afternoon in West Point in Troup County was an isolated incident between two employees who worked together.
The victim of the Kia Plant shooting was identified as Gary Swanson. Authorities said he was shot once in the leg. Swanson's age and hometown were not made available, according to the Atlanta-Journal Constitution.
Meanwhile, the suspect of the Kia Plant shooting, identified as Gabriel Raines, 38, was taken into custody without incident.
According to the employees, Raines worked in the assembly area at the plant, the area where the Kia Plant shooting took place. He walked in past security and was able to fire multiple shots, thus hitting Swanson.
"It is kind of scary knowing something like that happened, but I work around pretty good group of people," according to Richard Hampson, an employee at the plant. "I know the guy that was doing the shooting. I talked to a guy who works close to me and he said the guy used to be on his line."
It remains unclear whether the victim of the Kia Plant shooting had been targeted or whether Raines fired in random.
West Point is on the Georgia-Alabama line, and is about 15 miles southwest of LaGrange.
In response to the Kia Plant shooting, the company released a statement saying, "Details of the incident are currently under investigation. The safety and security of our team members is Kia Motors Manufacturing Georgia's top priority, and we are cooperating with authorities."
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