More details from the horrific Kentucky workplace shooting are emerging.

See previous NewsWatch posts on the shooting here.

Selecting from AP, Bloomberg News, and WFIE NBC-14 (Indiana).

AP:

… Police said Wesley N. [Neal] Higdon, 25, had an argument with his supervisor about wearing safety goggles and using his cell phone while was at his press machine Tuesday.

Later that night, as the supervisor escorted him from the building, Higdon shot him, apparently using a .45-caliber pistol he kept in his car. Then, he charged into a break room and the plant floor and kept shooting before turning the gun himself, police said.

“He just walked in, looked like he meant business, and started shooting at everybody,” Henderson Police Sgt. John Nevels said at a news conference.

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Bloomberg:

A 25-year-old man armed with a handgun shot six co-workers at a western Kentucky plastics plant, killing five, before taking his own life.

Wesley Neal Higdon opened fire early today following an argument with a supervisor at the Atlantis Plastics Inc. factory in Henderson, the Ohio River town’s police force said in a statement.

“The cause behind this incident is unknown; however, the suspect is known to have gotten into an argument with a supervisor earlier in the evening,” according to the police force’s statement.

“After this argument, the suspect left the building for his regular break,” said the statement. “When he returned, he had the handgun with him.”

Police said Trisha Mirelez, 25, and the gunman were pronounced dead at the scene. Kevin G. Taylor, 30, and Rachael Vasquez, 26, died at Methodist Hospital in Henderson. Joshua Hinojosa, 28, and Israel Monroy, 29, died at hospitals in Evansville, Indiana.

Noelia Monroy, 22, suffered multiple gunshot wounds and is in stable condition at St. Mary’s Hospital in Evansville, the statement said.

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WFIE:

The names and ages of the victims in the Atlantis Plastics shooting in Henderson were released.

Suspect: Wesley Neal Higdon, 25, from Henderson, Kentucky. Died on scene.

Victim 1: Kevin G. Taylor, 30, from Dixon, Kentucky, supervisor (Police believe he was targeted by suspect.) Died at Methodist Hospital.

Victim2: Trisha Mirelez, 25, from Sebree, Kentucky. Died on the scene.

Victim 3: Rachel Vasquez, 26, from Sebree, Kentucky. Died at Methodist Hospital.

Victim 4: Joshua Hinojosa, 28, from Sebree, Kentucky. Died at Deaconess Hospital.

Victim 5: Israel Monroy, 29, from Henderson, Kentucky. Died at St. Mary’s Hospital.

Victim 6: Noelia Monroy, 22, from Henderson, Kentucky is in stable condition at St. Mary’s Hospital in Evansville, Indiana. She suffered multiple gunshot wounds.

A fuller picture is emerging of the hostage-taking yesterday at the Morrison County Board of Commissioners.

Police took down the prospective shooter.

This story posted last night in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune:

Michael Krejci could tell by the way Gordon Wheeler held the gun that Tuesday morning’s meeting of the Morrison County Board was about to go terribly wrong.

Krejci, the man videotaping the proceedings, watched in astonishment as Wheeler, a longtime local bar owner who had been at odds with commissioners for years over his adult entertainment establishments, walked from the back of the board room toward the commissioners, proclaiming that there was one more “piece of business” to tend to.

“I saw the gun — it was big,” Krejci said. “I looked at the door, I looked at the commissioners, and thought, ‘Oh my God!’ I knew there was going to be something happening here.”

Minutes later, after holding several commissioners and a half-dozen others hostage and holding the gun to the head of the county administrator, Wheeler lay dying, taken down by police gunshots that ended a tense 10-minute standoff.

No one else was injured.

Dave Bjerga, assistant superintendent for the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, said that as of Tuesday night, authorities still hadn’t determined what prompted Wheeler to head to the courthouse with a gun.

But he said investigators believe it was rooted in the hard feelings the 60-year-old Wheeler had toward the county.

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KARE NBC-11 (Minneapolis/St. Paul) interviewed one of the Commissioners held hostage. (Accompanying video is here.):

… That gunman was Gordon Wheeler, a man Morrison County commissioners knew well. The board had denied him a liquor license because of a felony conviction for promoting prostitution. In 2007, Wheeler sued the county. And his adult businesses have been shut down because of county action.

That long-standing feud ended Tuesday when Wheeler took ten people hostage at gunpoint, including Commissioner Wenzel.

“I thought about my family a lot - my grandchildren, my wife and my children, thought of them off and on through the whole episode,” says Tom Wenzel.

And about a half hour after it all started, authorities shot Wheeler. He later died at a local hospital.

And while it’s not clear yet exactly what happened in that room or why Gordon Wheeler decided to take hostages, Tom Wenzel says he’s glad no one was hurt and thankful he can still enjoy his home and his family.

“That’s just the way it is, life is beautiful and I want to be around a long time yet,” says Tom.

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Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of those murdered, and with all the people of Henderson today.

Details are still developing.

This from the most recent AP report:

… The employee, a press operator, began arguing with a supervisor and was escorted from the building, company CEO Bud Philbrook told The Associated Press.

As the employee was leaving, he took out a gun, shot the supervisor, then charged back into a break room and shot several employees. Then he returned to the floor and shot another employee before killing himself, Philbrook said.

“It’s just total shock. It’s something you read about in the paper what happened at one of our facilities,” Philbrook said.

It wasn’t clear if the employee was carrying the gun, or if he retrieved it after the argument. “We don’t know if the gun was in the car or if he went somewhere to get it,” Henderson police Lt. David Piller said.

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Exactly where the shooter retrieved his firearm is not entirely clear, based on conflicting reports of police statements.

This is important to those who believe private property owners and employers should not be forced to accept firearms on their premises.

Kentucky, tied for the lowest score on the 2007 Brady State Scorecard, is also a state that forces employers to accept guns on workplace property.

Per this report from WLKY:

The CEO of a company that operates a western Kentucky plastics plant where an employee opened fire after an argument said a sixth person has died.

Atlantis Plastics CEO Bud Philbrook said the killings are just a “total shock.”

Philbrook said the employee argued with a supervisor around midnight, then shot the supervisor before opening fire in a break room.

Police said the gunman ended the rampage by killing himself.

Henderson Police Lt. David Piller said victims were scattered through the facility.

Piller said the shooter used a handgun he got from home during a break.

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More details to follow.

Many reports here.  Updates to follow.

This story from the AP:

HENDERSON, Ky. (AP) — An employee shot and killed four people at a plastics plant before killing himself early Wednesday, police said.

The shooting happened after an employee at Atlantis Plastics had an argument with a supervisor, Henderson police Lt. David Piller said.

In addition to the four deaths, Piller said two others, who were injured, were flown to hospitals in Evansville, Ind.

The employee used a handgun he retrieved during a break, Piller said.

The shooting victims were scatted around the plant, Piller said.

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