Sheriff: Hesston Police Officer Who Stopped Shooter A 'Tremendous Hero'

Harvey County Sheriff T. Walton identified the man who opened fire Thursday at the Hesston, Kansas plant where he worked, killing three people and wounding others.  He said the gunman was 38-year-old Cedric Ford.

The sheriff said Ford was served with a protection from abuse order about 90 minutes before the attacks began Thursday.

2/25/2016 Related Story: Kansas Shooter Served With Protective Order Just Before Deadly Shootings

He says Cedric Ford shot and wounded three people before storming the Excel Industries lawnmower parts factory and shooting 15 others, killing three. 

A Hesston police officer killed Ford during an exchange of gunfire.

Public records show Ford has several previous offenses in Florida over the last decade, including burglary, grand theft and fleeing from an officer. 

Online records show he was released from the custody of the Florida Department of Corrections in February 2007.

In Kansas, he had a misdemeanor conviction in a 2008 fighting or brawling case and various traffic violations from 2014 and 2015.

The sheriff said the Hesston police officer who shot and killed Ford is a "tremendous hero."
 
Sheriff T. Walton said that had the Hesston police officer not killed Ford during the attack, it "would be a whole lot more tragic."

He says there were still 200 or 300 other people in the factory and that "the shooter wasn't done by any means."