3 Dead in California Workplace Shooting

A "discharged parolee" opened fire at a Fresno chicken plant today, killing two people and wounding two more before fatally shooting himself, the Los Angeles Times reports. The suspect was identified as Lawrence Jones, 42; he had worked at the Valley Protein plant for 14 months. Jones reportedly showed up for work just before 5am; police say he "pulled out a handgun and began opening fire" around 8:30am, moving methodically between three of the victims, putting a handgun against their head or neck and opening fire, reports the AP.

Two of the three men shot inside the processing plant have died; they did not hear Jones approach because of the plant's noise level, and may have been wearing noise protectors as well, police explained. A fourth victim, a woman, was shot as she tried to flee the plant. Jones apparently tried to shoot a fifth person, but he was out of bullets. He reportedly died a short time later of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. About 30 employees witnessed the shootings. (More shooting stories.)