'Horrible day': Shooter at US brewery kills multiple people
Multiple people have been killed in a shooting at a brewery in the US state of Wisconsin.
Milwaukee mayor Tom Barrett confirmed a number had died in the shooting at Molson Coors Brewing Co, but did not give an exact number of victims.
Initial reports suggested six people were killed in the shooting on Wednesday (local time) while the gunman also died but US President Donald Trump later said the attacker killed five people and wounded others.
The shooter was a former employee who had been fired earlier that day, ABC News reports.
“It is a horrible, horrible day for the employees here. A very rough day for anyone who is close to this situation,” Mr Barrett told reporters.
Milwaukee police responded to what they called a “critical incident” after a Molson Coors employee received an email about an active shooter near one of the buildings.
Multiple local media cited unidentified sources reported fatalities at the scene, including the shooter. The Associated Press was not able to immediately confirm the reports.
Molson Coors spokesman Martin Maloney told the AP that there was an “active situation” but didn’t have any further details.
There was a heavy police presence in the area, along with fire trucks and ambulances. Live video showed an officer in body armour getting an assault rifle out of a car. Emergency crews were continuing to arrive at the scene nearly two hours after the initial call to police.
The FBI and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were among the agencies responding. Mr Barrett also arrived on the scene.
The incident occurred at a sprawling complex that includes a mix of corporate offices and brewing facilities.
At least 600 people work at the complex, which is widely known in the Milwaukee area as “Miller Valley”, a reference to the Miller Brewing Co. that is now part of Molson Coors.
Milwaukee police asked that people stay clear of the area and that no helicopters or drones be flown over the site for “officer safety purposes”.
James Boyles told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that his wife, Lasonya Ragdales, works at Molson Coors in the claims department.
She was texting from inside the building and told her husband that there was an active shooter and she was locked in a room with a bunch of co-workers, the Journal Sentinel reported.
“Miller Valley” features a 160-year-old brewery, with a packaging centre that fills thousands of cans and bottles every minute and a distribution centre the size of five football fields.
The facility is also home to corporate customer service, finance, human resources and engineering.
Tours take people to underground caves where beer was once stored, a saloon with intricate woodwork, a stein hall with stained glass windows, a champagne room meeting hall with leaded glass windows, and an outdoor beer garden that can hold 300 people.
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