Who are Indiana NHK plant shooting victims? Woman, 62 and granddaughter, 21, killed by coworker
CLINTON COUNTY, INDIANA: Two women were killed on Wednesday, August 17, in a deadly shooting at the new NHK Seating of America factory near Frankfort, the Clinton County Sheriff’s Office said. The victims were a grandmother and her granddaughter.
News of the shooting comes on the heels of the death of special ed teacher Denise Huguelet who was shot and killed on August 18 when she got caught in the crossfire of a shootout. Recently there was another mass shooting at a California gun store. MEAWW has earlier reported on the harrowing shooting outside a Times Square theater that left three injured, including a four-year-old girl. The nation has seen a rise in violent gun crimes in recent months.
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According to reports, 687 people were injured or killed in police-reported gun violence through June 6, which is the most since 2000. Early this month, NY Governor Andrew Cuomo issued a first-in-the-nation executive order declaring gun violence a 'disaster emergency'.
The two people gunned down at the factory in Frankfort, Indiana, on Wednesday were NHK employees, a grandmother, and her granddaughter who were on their way to work, ABC reported. They were 62-year-old Pamela Sled and 21-year-old Promise Mays. There is not much information out about them yet, apart from the fact that they both were of nearby Rossville. They were arriving at the seating plants at the beginning of their evening shifts when the incident happened, Sheriff Rich Kelly told reporters.
At the scene of a shooting at NHK Seating in Clinton County. Just talked with a worker who says he was in the parking lot and saw a man come up to a woman, shoot her, then someone else, and then took off. Scene still taped off. @WTHRcom pic.twitter.com/Q0JtJQVMHv
— Dustin Grove (@DustinGroveTV) August 18, 2021
Authorities say the alleged suspect, Gary C Ferrell, 26, also worked at the factory and is now in custody. Before shooting the two women, Ferrell is thought to have finished his shift. During a shift change, the shooting occurred at the factory's parking lot around 4:15 pm on Wednesday. The plant is on Indiana 28 at Interstate 65 near Frankfort, about 45 miles north of Indianapolis in Frankfort, Indiana, USA Today reported.
911 calls began arriving at 4:15 p.m. local time, according to the sheriff's office. Residents were advised to avoid the area due to an "active scene" shortly after. "Please avoid the area of our new NHK," the sheriff's office wrote shortly after the incident began. "This is an active scene."
#BREAKING: WRTV has crews on the way to the scene of a workplace shooting at NHK Seating in Frankfort.
— Marc Mullins (@MarcMullins1) August 18, 2021
The scene is north of Lebanon and east of Lafayette. @wrtv pic.twitter.com/YCe4lWv1Tt
Sheriff Rich Kelly told reporters that the suspect fled the scene in a blue Ford, and a high-speed police chase ensued on Indiana 28 toward Frankfort, where the suspect crashed his car in a construction zone and was arrested without incident. Ferrell, who worked the day shift at the plant, was identified as the suspect by coworkers, he said. Ferrell remains in custody pending charges. “We were able to get him stopped within probably 45 seconds to a minute of him leaving the facility,” Kelly told WTOP.
He said no motive had been established, and it was unclear whether the two women were targeted or victims of a random attack. The plant, which designs and manufactures vehicle seating, first opened in June. Following the shooting, Kelly stated that production would be halted for the day.