Cedric Ford
|
cCedric Larry Ford (1978 - February 25, 2016) was the perpetrator of the Heston and Newton Kansas shootings. 4 people died (including the perpetrator) and 14 were injured. This is one of the two only mass shootings in the state of Kansas.
Early Life edit
Ford had multiple arrests earlier in his life, including a arrest for carrying a concealed firearm at the age of 18. Following that arrest from 1996, Ford has been arrested for drug possession, theft, parole violation, misdemeanor conviction in a brawl that occurred in 2008 and several traffic violations from 2014 - 2015. Even in Ford's home in Broward County, Florida, Cedric had arrests for resisting arrest, battery and grand theft.
20 days before the shooting, Cedric's girlfriend accused him of assault and domestic violence and issued a restraining order against him. The order was given to him on February 12, during which he "acted annoyed but not out of the ordinary", according to the police sergeant who served him the papers.
The second order was given to him on around 3:30 p.m. on the day of the shootings and may have contributed to the event.
Shooting edit
On February 25, 2016 at 4:57 pm shots rang out at a street intersection in Newton where Ford shot at two vehicles in a drive-by shooting. Only one of the two was hit and suffered non-fatal injuries. Ford then drove down U.S Route 81 and fired at oncoming traffic. His vehicle and another car crashed in a nearby ditch, after which he got out, shot and injured the other driver in the leg, and stole that victim's vehicle.
Ford then arrived at Excel Industries, injured a elderly woman in the parking lot, went inside the building, and fired randomly at the assembly lines, shooting several employees.
According to one person who was shot but survived, Ford seemed to hesitate before firing. He then shot at Hesston Police Chief Doug Schroeder, the first officer to respond to the scene, and Schroeder fired back. Ford was struck by bullets and died at 5:23 p.m.
Aftermath edit
4 People died and 14 were injuring in the shooting, all 4 dying in the Excel Industries.
A day after the shooting, Ford's 28-year-old ex-girlfriend Sarah Jo Hopkins was arrested for illegally providing him with the firearms used in the shootings. Hopkins pleaded guilty to not alerting authorities that a convicted felon unlawfully possessed firearms and was sentenced to a year on supervised release.
Immediately after the shooting, the Excel Industries factory was closed down. It reopened on March 10, two weeks after the shooting.
U.S president Barack Obama spoke by phone to Hesston Mayor David Kauffman to give his condolences to the victims and his thanks to the first responders.
On May 25, three months after the shootings, several people gathered along U.S. Route 81 for a memorial dedicated to the victims and those affected.
On June 8, an autopsy on Ford's body indicated high levels of methamphetamine and alcohol in his system.
Victims edit
Renee Benjamin - October 20, 1985 (30 years)
Joshua Higbee - June 10, 1984 (31 years)
Brian Sadowsky - June 22, 1971 (44 years)
