An employee killed up to four people and wounded as many as 20 others in a shooting spree that ended at his worksite in Hesston, Kansas, on Thursday where he was shot and killed by authorities, the local sheriff told reporters.

The gunman appears to have opened fire at three locations before entering the building of a lawnmower manufacturer where he worked, Harvey County Sheriff T. Walton said at a news conference.

The shooter, identified by a dispatcher with the Sheriff's Office as 38-year-old Cedric Ford, began his attacks at about 5 p.m. local time (2300 GMT) in the town of Newton, where a man driving a truck was shot in the shoulder, Walton said.