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Police: 3 dead in McMinn plant shooting, including gunman

Travis Dorman
USA TODAY NETWORK - Tennessee

ATHENS, Tenn. —  An angry worker at the Thomas & Betts Corp. factory killed his bosses in the factory offices Thursday and then turned the gun on himself, police said.

RELATED:TBI continues probe of deadly shooting

Athens Police Department officers responded just after 4:15 p.m. to reports of a shooting at the plant at 260 Dennis St., across the street from McMinn County High School, Police Chief Chuck Ziegler said. They met a flood of Thomas & Betts employees "streaming out of the plant from all of the exits," the chief said.

Officers found three bodies inside the factory, including the suspected shooter. The shooter was found in a bathroom in the plant, dead of what "appears to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound" from a semi-automatic pistol, the chief said.

Police identified the victims as James A. Zotter, 44, and Sandra H. Cooley, 68, both supervisors at the plant. The shooter, Ricky Swafford, 45, had become angry during a meeting earlier in the day, left and came back with a gun, police said.

Police didn’t say what the meeting was about.

Witnesses described "some attempted shooting in the front office and actual shooting deep inside the factory on the north side and the middle," he said. No other workers were hurt.

Police called in the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and other law enforcement agencies to assist with the crime scene.

People stand outside Thomas & Betts Corp., where a shooting took place Thursday that left three dead in Athens, Tenn.

"Up until now, all we’ve been able to do is identify all of the people who were witnesses, who saw or heard or were involved in the situation," Ziegler said. "We have investigators from all the different (agencies) interviewing them at this time."

The plant does not have its own security, he said.

Officers also responded to the high school and placed it on lockdown as a precaution, although the few students present after school "were never in any danger," McMinn County Sheriff Joe Guy said.

Ziegler, who plans to retire in December, said he can’t recall a similar case of mass violence in the community.

“All you can say now is people are in shock,” he said. “I had several personal longtime friends in there when the shooting was going on.”

Eric Morrow, who lives less than a mile from the plant, said he drove to the factory as soon as he heard about the shooting and saw employees running for their lives through the parking lot.

Athens Police Chief Chuck Ziegler respond to questions during a news conference regarding a shooting that left three dead at Thomas and Betts Corp. in Athens, Tenn., on Sept. 22, 2016.

“A couple people went across the road into the trees to hide,” he said. “It was a scene that you’re not prepared for.”

Thomas & Betts Corp., with headquarters in the Southwind area of suburban Memphis, designs and makes electrical components used in industrial, commercial, lighting and utility markets. The 118-year-old company is a unit of Swiss industrial conglomerate ABB and reported about 1,300 employees in the Memphis area in 2015.

The company, which ABB acquired in a $3.9 billion buyout in 2012, has been based in Memphis since 1992.

The company said counselors will be on hand at the plant.

“Our loss is profound,” company spokesman Chris Shigas said in a statement. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims’ families during this difficult time.”

Officials stand outside Thomas & Betts Corp., where a shooting took place Thursday that left three dead in Athens, Tenn.
McMinn County Sheriff Joe Guy, left, and Athens Police Chief Chuck Ziegler respond to questions during a news conference regarding a shooting that left three dead at Thomas and Betts Corp. in Athens, Tenn.

Tennessean reporter Ariana Sawyer contributed to this report.