Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Police: Workers disarm gunman
Springdale man faces 44 counts
SPRINGDALE — Employees at a Northwest Arkansas manufacturing plant disarmed a man carrying an AR-15 rifle who said he was there to shoot them at random, according to police.
Shawn Vaughn, a former employee, was arrested in connection with 44 counts of terroristic threatening, according to city police. Vaughn was in a medical facility Friday night, said Jeff Taylor, police spokesman.
Springdale officers went to American Tubing’s plant at 2191 Ford Avenue at 3:32 a.m., according to a news release. They were responding to several 911 calls reporting a man inside threatening people while
carrying a gun, according to the incident report.
Employees were fleeing the building as the first officer arrived. Once inside, police found Vaughn, 20, of 1298 Electric Ave., Apt. D201, “sitting on the steps near the human resources office,” according to the release.
Vaughn is a former employee, according to the 911 callers as cited in the police report. Vaughn didn’t have any weapons on him when officers found him.
Witnesses told officers some of the employees took weapons away from Vaughn, who was arrested without incident.
The employees who took the weapons put the firearms in the maintenance closet of the business, they told police. Officers found a .22-caliber pistol and an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle in that closet. The pistol was loaded with five rounds and the AR-15 was found with four detachable magazines with 25 rounds in each.
Vaughn told the police he went to American Tubing with the intention of shooting employees at random. He did this after drinking a half a bottle of wine and then making two failed attempts to kill himself by hanging, according to the police report.
There were 44 people in the building when Vaughn arrived, investigation determined.
In addition to the terroristic threatening charges, Vaughn is now charged with disorderly conduct and carrying a prohibited weapon.
A woman who answered the phone at American Tubing on Friday afternoon said there was no one there authorized to comment.
American Tubing, which makes copper tubes for air conditioning and refrigeration units, is a subsidiary of National Tube Holding Co. in Birmingham, Ala. It began operations in Springdale in 1976 and moved into its current facility in 1987. The plant expanded in 2000 and again in 2013 with a $3 million investment.