Workplace shooting victim identified

Shooter was Kenyan refugee fired in March, police say.

Authorities in Virginia on Wednesday iden- tified a man who was fatally shot and three others who were wounded after a former co-worker opened fire at a rail-car factory.

Getachew Fekede opened fire at the FreightCar America facility in Roanoke early Tuesday before killing himself, police said. Daniel Brown, 56, of Montvale was killed, said Roanoke police spokesman Scott Leamon.

Leamon identified the three other employees injured in the shooting as Keith Law, 31, of Rocky Mount; Gary Koran, 32, of Roanoke; and Travis Valderrama, 31, of Catawba.

None of the people gathered in front of Brown’s home Wednesday would comment. Vickie Hawkins, who identified herself as Brown’s girlfriend, told WDBJ-TV that Brown was dedicated to his family, coun- try and job and treated her granddaughter as one of his own. She said he had worked for FreightCar America for about eight years and rarely missed a day.

“He had a huge heart . ... He is going to be so missed by his family,” Hawkins said. She said she wanted everyone “to know what a wonderful per- son he was.”

Fekede legally entered the U.S. from Kenya in 2011 through a refugee program, police said. He was fired by the company in March when he stopped showing up for work, they said.

Neighbors described Fekede as a good friend and hard worker who quit because he was being harassed by another man at work. They expressed disbelief that Fekede would commit such violence.