One person has been killed and five others were injured in a “targeted” shooting at an Ohio cosmetics warehouse Tuesday night as a person of interest remains on the loose, according to law enforcement.
Gunfire erupted at the KDC/One cosmetics building in New Albany — located 15 miles northeast of the state capital of Columbus — at around 11 p.m., New Albany Police Chief Greg Jones told WSYX early Wednesday.
Authorities confirmed there were six people shot — one fatally — inside the “large building” and the victim was pronounced dead at the scene.
The five others have been transported to a local hospital. Their conditions are unknown.
Jones said one person of interest has been identified, but their identity has not yet been revealed as police work to “bring them into custody.”
He said police don’t believe the suspect is a risk to the public.
“We believe we may know their location. We don’t have any reason to believe that they are a general threat to society,” the chief shared. “It appears at this point to be a targeted type of attack.”
Jones said the building had been cleared but called the situation “fluid.” Officers have recovered a firearm at the scene.
Police have yet to determine a motive for the shooting and said they did not receive any “reports of an altercation beforehand or afterward.”
When officers arrived on the scene, Jones said some people were “self-evacuating the building.”
Jones said first responders were able to evacuate everyone — estimated to be “at least 150 people” — inside and bring them to a “neighboring building” about 400 yards away from where the shooting took place.
Law enforcement is interviewing witnesses of those evacuated to aid with their investigation and are working through “language barriers” with some of the employees.
He said they are currently working on notifying the families of the “injured and deceased.”
“Everybody else seems to be in good health,” Jones said. “Again, a lot of them didn’t know what happened. They were aware of it until they were evacuated.”
An investigation into the shooting is ongoing.
“This has been a very tragic situation. Our thoughts go out to the victims, their families, and everybody that works at this facility,” Jones said.
“This is something that we hoped that would never happen in our community. But we prepare for it.”
