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Two dead in Texas workplace shooting

By Martin Smith

KATY, Texas, May 4 (UPI) -- An employee, who had just been fired, shot dead a co-worker before killing himself Wednesday morning at a trucking company in southeastern Texas.

Two other workers and a sheriff's deputy received minor shrapnel injuries in the incident, which happened at around 8.45 a.m. at Knight Transportation in Franz Road in the Houston suburb of Katy.

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Harris County Sheriff Ron Hickman said that the shooter had been laid off from the company that morning, before returning to the business with a shotgun and a pistol and opened fire.

The man is said to have fired several shots while approaching the building and then killed a male co-worker once he got inside.

He reportedly screamed "you ruined my life" during the spree, before turning a weapon on himself.

"The individual who was terminated earlier this morning, we believe as a retaliatory act, responded with weapons and came back and initiated the shooting," Hickman said. "Probably being terminated would make him disgruntled but we don't know yet ... exactly what the reasons were."

The identities of those involved have not been released.

The shooter had worked at the company for two years, according to local TV station KHOU 11, who spoke to two employees off-camera. They did not know why the man had been laid off.

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Nearby schools were put on lockdown until police gave the all-clear.

Knight Transportation is a nationally known company, based in Phoenix, which runs a fleet of around 4,000 tractor-trailers and employs some 5,000 people.

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