Five killed in Florida factory shooting

ORLANDO, FLA.— A man who was fired from a Florida awning factory in April returned Monday with a semiautomatic pistol and methodically killed five people, then took his own life at the sound of an approaching siren, authorities said.

Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings identified the shooter as John Robert Neumann Jr., a 45-year-old army veteran who lived alone and did not appear to belong to any type of subversive or terrorist organization.

The shooting began after Neumann slipped through a rear door into the cavernous Fiamma Inc. factory, an area larger than two football fields where awnings are stitched together for recreational vehicles. He paused at least once to reload.

“My experience tells me that this individual made deliberate thought to do what he did today. He had a plan of action,” said the sheriff, who wouldn’t say why Neumann was fired. The gunman “had a negative relationship with” at least one of the victims.

“He was certainly singling out the individuals he shot,” Demings said, adding that most victims were shot in the head. Some were shot multiple times.

Searching for a motive, deputies cordoned off a trailer park in Maitland, where Neumann lived alone in a mobile home on a busy road next to a funeral home, a used car lot and a dog-grooming business. Like the awning factory, it’s far from Orlando’s famous theme parks.

Deming said investigators also are looking through any social media postings for clues. Neumann was honourably discharged in 1999 and did not have a concealed-weapons permit, the sheriff said.