Videos provide glimpse of Ky. plant shooting

[July 16, 2008]  HENDERSON, Ky. (AP) -- Newly released surveillance videos provide a glimpse of a shooting at a western Kentucky plastics plant that left five people and the gunman dead last month.

Police in Henderson released the videos to The Associated Press on Tuesday.

Wesley N. Higdon, 25, shot and killed five workers and himself June 25 after arguing with his supervisor about not wearing safety goggles and using his cell phone on the assembly line, police said. A sixth shooting victim survived.

One video shows several minutes of workers walking back and forth on the factory floor. Suddenly, the gunman runs up behind a worker in blue jeans, who crumples to the ground, apparently hit. The gunman runs out of view.

Several other workers walk around their fallen colleague's body, one with his hands on his head.

Surveillance video taken in the factory lunchroom a few seconds later shows several people sitting at tables when the gunman, dressed in shorts and a black T-shirt, walks in and aims at one of them.

The gunman then aims at a back corner before returning to the first victim, who falls from his chair before someone appears to pull a table over him. The gunman then aims under the table. After he leaves, several people try to help a woman who had crawled out from under the same table.

Police said Higdon shot his supervisor, Kevin G. Taylor, 30, outside the plant, then went inside and shot and killed four others before turning the gun on himself. A sixth shooting victim survived.

The shooting occurred hours after an argument with his supervisor so riled Higdon that he called his girlfriend and told her that he wanted to kill his boss. She didn't warn anyone.

The other slain co-workers were Trisha Mirelez, 25, Rachael Vasquez, 26, Joshua Hinojosa, 28, and Israel Monroy, 29. The survivor was Monroy's sister, Noelia Monroy.

The killings stunned the Ohio River town of about 28,000 people, where many residents know or are related to a worker at the plant. The plant, operated by Atlanta-based Atlantis Plastics, employs about 160 people and makes parts for refrigerators and plastic siding for homes.

[Associated Press; By LINDA DEUTSCH]

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