Three workers of a manufacturing plant in Maryland, United States, died after their colleague opened fire on Thursday, CNN reported. The suspect, another worker and a state trooper were injured in the incident, said Maryland State Police Lieutenant Colonel Bill Dofflemyer.
Washington County Sheriff Douglas W Mullendore told reporters that the police are yet to identify the motive for the shooting at Columbia Machine Inc in Smithsburg town.
After the shooting, the suspect fled the scene and was tracked down by three state troopers, reported The Associated Press.
“When troopers went to stop the vehicle, the suspect immediately started firing multiple [bullets] at the troopers,” Dofflemyer said. The authorities said that a pistol was recovered at the second shooting scene.
The dead have been identified as 50-year-old Mark Alan Frey, 31-year-old Charles Edward Minnick Jr and 30-year-old Joshua Robert Wallace. The injured worker is 42-year-old Brandon Chase Michael.
Mass shootings in US
US has seen 254 mass shooting in 2022, according to CNN.
On June 4, three persons died and 11 were injured after shooting in Philadelphia. On June 1, four persons were killed by a shooter on a hospital campus in Tulsa city of Oklahoma. The shooter, who was carrying a rifle and a handgun, was also killed.
On May 24, a gunman shot dead 19 children and two adults at the Robb Elementary School in Texas. This was one of the deadliest attacks at an American school since a gunman killed 26 people, including 20 children, in a rampage at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut in 2012.
The incidents have sparked countrywide debate with the ruling Democrats calling for gun control, and the Republicans demanding better security at schools. The Republicans say that taking away the guns is a violation of the second amendment to the US Constitution that protects the citizens’ rights to own and bear arms.
On June 4, United States President Joe Biden had urged legislators to ban assault weapons or at least raise the minimum age to buy them.
On Wednesday, the House of Representatives had passed a law to control the sale of guns to civilians by raising the legal age for buying assault rifles from 18 years to 21 years. It also introduced new federal offences for gun trafficking and selling high-capacity magazines in the country.
However, the proposed law is unlikely to be passed in the Senate, which comprises 50 Democrats and an equal number of Republicans. Most Bills need 60 votes to pass, which makes it difficult for contentious laws to be cleared.
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