LOC01:04
22:04 GMT
WASHINGTON, Sept 26 (KUNA) -- A 30-year-old man who had just been fired from his job in Moore, Oklahoma, beheaded one woman and began stabbing another on Friday before a reserve deputy shot and injured him.
The act appeared random and not linked to terrorism, local police confirmed.
The suspect, Alton Nolen, attacked two of his co-workers with a knife routinely used at the Vaughan Foods plant where they all worked. The man who stopped him also happened to be the company's chief operating officer, Mark Vaughan.
Colleen Hufford, 54, was his first victim, and Traci Johnson, 43, sustained "numerous knife wounds," Sergeant Jeremy Lewis of the Moore Police Department announced at a press conference.
"This off-duty deputy definitely saved Traci's life," said Lewis. "This was not going to stop if he didn't stop it. He's obviously a hero in this situation. It's very tragic that someone did lose their life, but it could have gotten a lot worse."
Nolen had served time in prison on a drug-related conviction, and that's where he was believed to have converted to Islam.
Lewis said the suspect had been trying to get co-workers at the plant to convert as well.
However "he wasn't targeting anyone, wasn't going specifically after them. It appears [the victims] were just in his way as he came in," Lewis explained.
Despite no apparent links to terrorism, local police are escalating the case.
"Due to the manner of death and the statement of co-workers and other initial information that investigators have gathered, we requested the assistance of the FBI in conducting a background investigation into Nolen," he said. (end)
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