The gunman opened fire in the parking lot of the manufacturing plant, then entered the work site and continued his shooting spree.

A man killed up to four people and wounded as many as 20 others on Thursday in a shooting spree in central Kansas that began on roadways and ended at his work site, where authorities shot and killed him, the local sheriff told reporters.

The gunman appears to have driven around in a car, opening fire at three locations before entering the building of a lawnmower manufacturer in the town of Hesston, Harvey County Sheriff T. Walton said at a news conference.

The shooter, identified by a dispatcher with the Sheriff’s Department as 38-year-old Cedric Ford, began his attacks at about 5 p.m. local time (2300 GMT) in the town of Newton, where a man driving a truck was shot in the shoulder, Walton said.

Witnesses speaking with local television stations also identified the shooter as Cedric Ford.

Soon after, the suspect shot a person in the leg on another street on the way to his worksite at Excel Industries, a large employer in Hesston, which is less than 9 miles (14 km) northwest of Newton, Walton said.

The gunman opened fire in the parking lot of the manufacturing plant, then entered the work site and continued his shooting spree, the sheriff said. Other employees told local media they fled in panic.

“This is just a horrible incident that’s happened here,” Walton said. “There are going to be a lot of sad people before this is all over.”

The series of shootings about 35 miles (60 km) north of Wichita come less than a week after a Michigan man who worked as a driver for car-hailing service Uber was charged with killing six people during a shooting rampage.

Related articles across the web

• Michigan Uber driver swapped cars during deadly shooting spree | Reuters
• Michigan gunman was an Uber driver who took fares between shootings: reports
• Gov. Rick Snyder lowers flags in honor of Kalamazoo shooting spree victims
• Hundreds gather at Cracker Barrel to remember shooting victims
• Help for first responders after Kalamazoo shootings
• Six Dead in Michigan Multiple Shooting Spree
• Michigan Uber driver switched cars during deadly shooting rampage
• Kalamazoo Killer Was Uber Driver Who Gave Passengers the Ride from Hell
• Michigan mass-shooting suspect identified as 45-year-old Jason Brian Dalton
• Michigan shootings end with six dead