The Athens Police Chief Chuck Ziegler said three people died, including a shooter, following an attack on at the Thomas & Betts manufacturing plant located at 260 Dennis St. near McMinn County High School.
Chief Ziegler said an angry longtime employee, identified by the TBI as 45-year-old Ricky Swafford, of Athens, TN., started shooting at the steel manufacturing facility around 4:15 p.m..

According to the TBI, James A. Zotter, 44, and Sandra H. Cooley, 68, both of Athens, TN, were shot to death shortly after 4 p.m. eastern at their workplace on Dennis Street in Athens, TN.

A preliminary investigation indicated that Swafford was upset during a meeting with his two supervisors, Mr. Zotter and Mrs. Cooley. According to investigators, Swafford abruptly left the meeting and returned a short time later to the office where the supervisors were and shot both of them.

“As they (officers) responded to the scene we found, or course there was a large number of individuals, this is a large plant, streaming out of the plant in all of the exits,” said Athens Police Chief Chuck Ziegler.