One person was dead and five others wounded in a shooting that may have been “targeted” in a warehouse in a Columbus, Ohio suburb late Tuesday night, authorities said.
New Albany Police Chief Greg Jones told reporters early Wednesday that a person of interest had been identified and authorities were working to bring the person into custody, adding that it wasn’t clear whether the person was an employee. He said there was no known motive but no reason to think there was an ongoing threat to anyone in the vicinity.
Jones said the wounded were taken to hospitals but there was no word on their conditions.
He said a firearm was found in the warehouse.
The city said police responded a little before 11 p.m. to the active shooter situation at KDC/One, which is a cosmetics and toiletries company.
Jones said some people were “self evacuating” when officers arrived and the rest in the “large building” were evacuated to another building nearby, roughly 150 in all. He told CBS News earlier that a drone was used to help clear them out.
Jones noted that some were being interviewed and there was a language barrier with several. Many didn’t know what had happened until they were evacuated, Jones said.
“This has been a very tragic situation. Our thoughts go out to the victims, their families and everybody that works at this facility” Jones said. “This is something that we hoped would never happen in our community, but we prepare for it, and this is where we are now.”
New Albany is 15 miles northeast of Columbus.