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| 3 dead, including shooter, in Birmingham UPS facility shooting |
Three people are confirmed dead in a shooting at the UPS Customer Center in the Inglenook community in north Birmingham.
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Birmingham Police Chief A.C. Roper said that the suspected shooter is among the dead. The shooter was a male who was fired recently from the UPS Customer Center.
Police received multiple phone calls about an active shooter at 9:21 a.m. Tuesday. During the shooting, multiple employees fled from the building.
"When police officers entered the facility, they identified and located the three bodies, one of those is obviously the shooter, and it appeared he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound," Roper said.
The incident occured in the warehouse area near the offices. Roper said the person police believe to be shooter was wearing his UPS uniform.
"We have a pretty good idea of what transpired inside the business," Roper said.
It appears that the other two victims were also UPS employees. Their identities and the identities of the shooter will not be released until family members are notified.
There were no other injuries and police did not fire any shots or hear any gunshots when they arrived at the UPS facility.
Roper said police will be interviewing family, friends and witnesses to discover a motive in the shooting.
Chief Roper said multiple witnesses would be taken to another location for counseling support and interviews.
Some UPS employees were taken by bus to Birmingham's Boutwell Auditorium for interviews after the shooting.
Birmingham Fire and Rescue crews and EMS personnel also responded to the Boutwell Auditorium, possibly to offer support to any of the witnesses.
The UPS facility in Inglenook is locked down so authorities can gather evidence and process the scene.
Chief Roper said the shooting is "extremely troubling for the city, for these families that are involved because when these people came to work today they had no idea this would be their last day on earth."
"They were just people working at their job, for them to lose their lives is very sad. Violence is never the answer," he continued.
UPS issued the following statement about the shooting on their website at 11:05 a.m. EST:
"UPS can verify that there has been a shooting incident at a UPS facility outside Birmingham, AL, at approximately 9:40 am Central Time. Police were contacted, and UPS is offering full cooperation to verify circumstances and personnel on site."
The UPS Customer Center is in the 4600 block of Inglenook Lane off of East Lake Boulevard near the Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport.
http://www.myfoxal.com/story/26604395/3-dead-in-shooting-at-birmingham-ups-customer-center