UPS shooting in Alabama leaves three dead, including shooter

A UPS employee opened fire Tuesday morning inside one of the company's warehouses in Alabama, leaving three people dead, police said. The shooter also was killed in the gunfire.

Birmingham Police Chief A.C. Roper told reporters that the gunman was wearing his uniform when he started shooting either in or near some offices inside the warehouse. The warehouse is in an industrial area just north of the Birmingham airport.

Police Lt. Sean Edwards told The Associated Press that the gunman was a UPS employee.

No one else was hurt, Roper said.

"When these people came here to work, they had no idea this would be their last day on earth," Roper said.

Atlanta-based UPS said in a brief statement that the shooting happened around 9:40 a.m. CDT. The company added that it is fully cooperating with the investigation.

Employees who were at the warehouse when the shooting happened were being taken to another location so that they could be interviewed by investigators and provided with counseling, Roper said.

Late Tuesday morning, a long line of police cars with their lights flashing left the area as part of a motorcade with a white school bus. Also, a wrecker with a police escort left the scene towing a dark red Honda SUV.

In January 2010, shots were fired at a UPS facility in Richmond, Calif., leaving both employees wounded, and one under arrest.