Crime News

Fired Worker Beheads Co-Employee In Oklahoma

A distraught employee who was recently fired from his job beheaded his female co-worker with a knife in a southern Oklahoma City food processing plant and was attacking another worker when a company official shot him, authorities said.

According to Fox News, The suspect, Alton Nolen, 30, was recently fired from Vaughan Foods in the suburban town of Moore. According to a local report, he drove into the company’s gate and hit a vehicle before entering the building, then attacked 54-year old Colleen Hufford, stabbing her several times and thensevered her head. Nolen also attacked Traci Johnson, 43, before Mark Vaughan, the company’s chief operating officer, shot him.

“He’s a hero in this situation,” said Moore Police Department Sgt. Jeremy Lewis, referring to Vaughan’s deed. “It could have gotten a lot worse.”

The police had to wait for Nolen, who recently converted to Islam, to gain consciousness before arresting him. They have already asked for the help of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to further investigate the incident and the suspect’s background.

Authorities have not yet determined the motive of the killing, but said Nolen’s recent conversion raises questions, especially the nature of the attack, which is similar to the beheadings of the extremist group Islamic State.

According to his co-workers, Nolen has been urging others to convert to Islam but as yet, the FBI sees no immediate connection between Nolen and Islamic State terrorists.

Nolen is in the hospital and in stable condition while Johnson is critically wounded.

According to state corrections, Nolen was convicted in January 2011 of multiple felony drug offenses, assault and battery on a police officer and escape from detention, the Associated Press reported. He was released from jail in March 2013.

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