Suspected gunman in Alabama factory shooting found dead by police

The suspected gunman in an early Tuesday shooting at an Alabama fire hydrant factory that left two dead and another two injured killed himself shortly after opening fire, according to police. 

Albertville Police Chief Jamie Smith said in a news conference Tuesday that officers had launched a search for 34-year-old Andreas Horton after a gunman opened fire at a Mueller Co. plant around 2:30 a.m. Tuesday. 

Later that morning, an officer in Guntersville, located about 15 miles away from the factory, saw a Jeep matching the description of one that officers believed Horton was traveling in, Smith said. 

Once other officers arrived at the scene, they discovered Horton “was dead with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.” 

Smith told reporters that officers also recovered multiple weapons from inside Horton’s vehicle. 

The Associated Press reported that Horton was parked along a road overlooking the grave of his mother, who passed away from cancer at the age of 40 in 2011. 

The police chief said that Horton was a worker at the fire hydrant factory and that officials are still collecting and processing evidence and “are also still working toward any motive as to what may have sparked or caused the shooting.” 

“Hopefully we’ll learn something more about that in the coming days as the investigation unfolds and the detectives get to talk to possible witnesses,” Smith said, adding that the shooting was “completely unprovoked.”

During the news conference, Smith also named the victims in Tuesday’s attack: Michael Dobbins and David Horton, reportedly no relation, were both workers at the Mueller Co. plant.

Casey Sampson and Isaac Byrd were both hospitalized following the attack, first being taken to a local hospital and then to a larger one in Chattanooga, Tenn., Smith said. 

The conditions of the two injured workers were not immediately known. 

Sanchez Watkins, a distant relative of Horton, told the AP he had last seen his family member a few months ago. 

“Andy was a good guy. Very quiet, easygoing,” he said. “You would never expect this from him.” 

The attack came the same day a shooting in Chicago’s South Side left four dead and another four injured after an argument at a home escalated into violence. 

Police have not yet released the identities or ages of the victims in the Chicago shooting, though they said a 2-year-old was removed from the home and is now in protective custody.

There have been more than 260 mass shootings already recorded this year by the Gun Violence Archive.