Authorities: Gunman wounds 3, apparently kills self at Neb. cold storage facility

Authorities: Gunman wounds 3, kills self in Neb.

CRETE, Neb. — A worker entered the lunchroom of a cold-storage warehouse in eastern Nebraska and started firing a handgun, wounding three employees before going outside and killing himself, authorities said Thursday.

Saline County Attorney Tad Eickman identified the gunman at the Americold Logistics plant near Crete as 26-year-old Akouch Kashoual of Lincoln. He said Kashoual entered the lunchroom around 9:50 p.m. Wednesday and started shooting, before going outside the plant to shoot himself in the head.

Eickman didn’t give any information about Kashoual’s motive.

There was no answer at the phone number listed for Kashoual’s apartment in Lincoln. Several people who said they were his relatives gathered on the balcony outside his apartment Thursday afternoon but declined to comment. The 21-unit, low-rent complex is near downtown and the state Capitol.

Those wounded were Elizabeth Canas, Renee Villareal and Paul Rivera, all workers at the plant who live in Crete, Eickman said. The Saline County sheriff’s office said Canas is 40 and Rivera is 42. Villareal was turning 23 Thursday, according to the date of birth it gave.

All were being treated at area hospitals. BryanLGH said Canas was in critical condition and Villareal was in fair condition.

Saline County Sheriff Alan Moore told the Lincoln Journal Star that about 35 people were at the facility when the shooting occurred. Spent shells were found inside in the cafeteria and other areas as well as outside the building, Moore said.

“When we first came across him, it appeared that it was a self-inflicted wound that ended it,” the sheriff Moore said, referring to the gunman.

Moore did not return several messages left Thursday by The Associated Press and would not speak with a reporter at his office.

Americold spokeswoman Samantha Cohen said Thursday the company is cooperating with investigators but did not give any details about the shooting.

“We wish to extend our sincere thoughts and prayers to our co-workers’ families and friends,” Cohen said in a statement. Cohen declined to comment beyond the company’s brief statement.

At the plant Thursday, workers could be seen milling around plant doors, but security guards posted at the gates thwarted attempts by reporters to enter the facility. The guards said only employees and delivery drivers were allowed inside, and that plant officials would not come out to talk to reporters. The guards also asked reporters who attempted to talk to employees to leave.

Brian Schwisow, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers local that represents Americold workers, said in a statement that he was gathering details about the shooting.

“UFCW Local 271 will do everything in our power to see that all workers have access to specialists and medical assistance to heal and recover from this incident,” the statement said. He did not immediately return a call for comment.

The Americold facility is a couple of miles south of Crete and next to a Farmland Foods plant. Both were locked down immediately after the shooting, although authorities don’t believe the gunman ventured onto Farmland property. By Thursday morning, both plants had reopened.

A worker who answered a phone at the Farmland plant Thursday declined to comment.

Americold also has facilities in Fremont and Grand Island, Neb. The company’s website describes it as the largest temperature-controlled food storage network in the U.S., with about 100 facilities nationwide. Food producers, distributors and retailers rely on temperature-controlled warehouses to protect the products they sell.

Associated Press Writers Josh Funk and Nelson Lampe in Omaha, Neb., contributed to this report.

Online:

Americold: www.americoldrealty.com