A shooter has killed one and wounded two before being shot dead by police in a shooting at a government facility in North Carolina, according to city officials, who said they had stabilized the situation.
Steven Dewayne Haizlip, 61, was identified by police as the shooter, in what cops say was an incident of workplace violence. Haizlip had been a city sanitation worker for 12 years.
The victim killed by the gunman was sanitation worker Terry Lee Cobb, 48. Cobb was a senior equipment operator with the sanitation department.
‘It appears that Mr Cobb was the specific target of Mr Haizlip,’ said Police Chief Catrina Thompson at a press conference.
The two men had a ‘longstanding dislike’ for each other and had been involved in a physical altercation at the workplace the prior day, according to Capt. Steven Tollie of the Winston-Salem Police Department.
Winston-Salem Police officers in tactical gear patrol outside the Joycelyn V. Johnson Municipal Services Center after reports of gunshots in Winston-Salem early on Friday
The victim killed by the gunman was sanitation worker Terry Lee Cobb, 48 (above). Cobb was a senior equipment operator with the sanitation department
Winston-Salem city workers wait outside the Joycelyn V. Johnson Municipal Services Center after a workplace shooting that left two dead, including the gunman
Police say that multiple 911 calls came in at 6.37am reporting gunshots in the break room at the Joycelyn V. Johnson Municipal Services Center.
The first officer arrived on the scene at 6.41am, according to Captain Thompson. The shooter fired at police, striking Sergeant Sloan twice, and cops returned fire, killing Haizlip.
On the scene, cops found one other wounded sanitation worker. He was seriously injured but is expected to recover.
Cops say they believe that Cobb was the sole target of the shooting, however, and that the other worker was merely in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Sergeant Sloan was rushed to Wake Forest University Medical Center, where he is currently recovering after undergoing surgery, and is expected to survive.
Chief Thompson lamented the violence and urged all citizens to be prepared in the event of a shooting.
‘We are all experiencing unacceptable levels of gun violence,’ she said.
Workers at the scene of the shooting described the chaos and panic as the gunshots rang out.
Winston-Salem, North Carolina, sanitation worker Dwight Black stands outside his workplace on Friday after a shooting
A police officer with the Winston-Salem Police Department walks across the parking lot of the Joycelyn V. Johnson Municipal Services Center after reports of gunshots
Victim: Terry Lee Cobb, 48, was killed in the workplace shooting. Cobb was a senior equipment operator with the sanitation department.
Sanitation worker Dwight Black, 66, was running five minutes late when he parked his car at the facility. He said he was about to swipe his card to enter the building when people ran past him.
‘They’re shooting. Run!’ Black said of the people leaving the building. ‘Fight or flight. I just followed suit.’
‘I didn’t know what was happening so I just kind of got out of the way until I could ascertain what was going on,’ he added.
Black ran back to his car and said other people did the same and drove off. He said he just stood back and watched until police arrived.
Black said he was ‘kind of numb’ after the shooting. ‘Everybody was devastated,’ he said. ‘Tough day.’
Numerous police cars were on the scene in the late morning. Workers in the reflective gear worn by city sanitation workers were seen standing in a parking lot talking to each other. The scene outside the building appeared calm.
‘On behalf of the City Council, I want to express how deeply saddened we are by the tragic event that occurred this morning involving employees at our Sanitation facility on Lowery Street,’ Mayor Allen Joines wrote on the city’s Facebook page.
Herbert Martinez told local news outlets a coworker at the site ran out and told him someone was shooting inside the building east of downtown in the city about 245,000 people in the central part of the state.
Martinez said he stayed in his truck and heard gunshots. He said he and the coworker ran and hid in a ditch, where they heard more gunshots.