Man injured in shooting at Georgia Kia plant
by The Associated Press
Armed officer stormed the site to take the shooter into custody
WEST POINT, Ga.—A shooting inside the Kia Motors auto manufacturing plant in Georgia left one worker wounded and another in custody after armed officers swarmed the site April 21.
According to the The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the victim, who authorities said was shot once in the leg and was hospitalized at Columbus Medical Center, was identified as Gary Swanson. His age and hometown were not immediately made available. The suspect who was taken into custody without incident, authorities said, is Gabriel Raines, 38.
Sgt. Stewart Smith of the Troup County Sheriff’s Office said no one else had been found injured.
Kia opened its first U.S. manufacturing plant in West Point, about 80 miles southwest of Atlanta, in 2009. Within about four years the plant employed 3,000 workers and had produced more than 1 million vehicles. The massive plant is located on 2,200 acres near the Georgia-Alabama state line.
Smith said Raines was armed with a handgun and that he did not know what may have prompted the violence.
“Details of the incident are currently under investigation,” Kia spokeswoman Corinne Hodges said in an emailed statement earlier Tuesday. “The safety and security of our team members is Kia Motors Manufacturing Georgia’s top priority, and we are co-operating with authorities.”
