FedEx employee Liz Aiken
The early morning hours were pierced by gunfire at a FedEx station in Kennesaw, Ga., just outside Atlanta, when an employee armed with bullets and an assault rifle “like Rambo” opened fire and shot six people before turning the gun on himself and committing suicide, according to police.
The six wounded were taken to nearby WellStar Kennestone Hospital, where one victim was rushed to surgery with potentially critical injuries. The others were less serious, hospital spokesman Tyler Pearson said.
“A lot of them were able to walk off the ambulance,” Pearson said.
FedEx clerk Liza Aiken told the Associated Press that she was working inside when she heard something that made her drop down. When she looked to her left, she saw the gunman.
“He had bullets strapped across his chest like Rambo, a huge assault rifle and he had a knife,” Aiken said, speaking in a parking lot where employees were gathering not far from their workplace.
As she was about to continue her comments, a woman wearing a FedEx jacket told Aiken to stop talking and led her away.
FedEx truck driver David Titus told reporters he was just coming to work when he saw a man walk up to a security guard outside the building and shoot him in the stomach, then proceed inside. Titus said he could hear more gunshots inside.
“It was chaos,” Titus said. “Everyone was running ducking and hiding, trying to get out of there.”
With reports of an active shooter at 5:54 a.m., police swarmed the center and surrounded the perimeter, working to clear the building. Inside they found the suspect dead, Cobb County police spokesman Michael Bowman said.
The facility, about 25 miles north of Atlanta, is a hub where packages are sorted and loaded onto vehicles for delivery.
After the incident, dozens of workers were taken by car and bus to the parking lot of a skating rink about a half-mile away to call relatives for rides. Employees said they had been told not to speak with reporters.
The identity of the suspected shooter was not immediately released.
“We are aware from the authorities of the situation,” said Scott Fiedler, a FedEx spokesman. “Our primary concern is the safety and wellbeing of our team members, first responders and others affected.”
Aiken told reporters she had recently reported the man to supervisors after he pointed some type of laser at her face.
