A manhunt was underway in Ohio on Wednesday after a gunman fatally shot one person and wounded five others inside a cosmetics and toiletries warehouse, police said.
The suspect, identified as Bruce Reginald Foster, was at work “for some time” before the shooting started Tuesday at the KDC/One Cosmetics building in New Albany, some 15 miles northeast of Columbus, New Albany Police Chief Greg Jones said early Wednesday. When authorities arrived on the scene around 11 p.m., they discovered six people suffering from gunshot wounds inside the “large building,” including one person who was pronounced dead on the scene
None of the victims has been identified, but they all appeared to be coworkers of the suspected shooter, Jones said. He described the shooting as a “targeted type of attack,” but stopped short of providing a motive, noting that there were no reports of any kind of confrontation or dispute that would have prompted the deadly violence.
Jones early Wednesday said officers are working “to locate” and catch Foster, though they do not believe he poses a general threat to the public.
A firearm was recovered from the warehouse, which was packed with about 150 people at the time of the shooting. They were all evacuated to a neighboring building, and officers are still working to interview many of them.
Jones said officers are dealing with a language barrier and noted many of them didn’t know what had happened until they were evacuated, Jones said.
“This has been a very tragic situation. Our thoughts go out to the victims, their families and everybody that works at this facility” Jones said. “This is something that we hoped would never happen in our community, but we prepare for it, and this is where we are now.”