Shooting at Kia plant in Georgia, 1 wounded, 1 arrest
WEST POINT, Ga. - A shooting inside the Kia Motors auto manufacturing plant in West Point, Ga. left one person wounded and another in custody after armed officers swarmed the site Tuesday.
The massive plant is on 2,200 acres near the Georgia-Alabama state line.
The shooting victim was flown by helicopter to a hospital in nearby Columbus, said Sgt. Stewart Smith of the Troup County Sheriff's Office. He said a lone suspect had been arrested.
"The plant was evacuated and sealed and it has been cleared," said Smith, who added 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.
Smith said he did not know how severely the shooting victim had been injured or what may have prompted the violence. Authorities did not immediately release the names of the victim or the suspect.
Kia wasn't saying much either.
"Details of the incident are currently under investigation," Kia spokeswoman Corinne Hodges said in an emailed statement. "The safety and security of our team members is Kia Motors Manufacturing Georgia's top priority, and we are cooperating with authorities."