A disgruntled former employee armed with a handgun shot five people, killing two, at a linen company outside of Philadelphia on Wednesday morning, officials said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The shooting happened at about 8:30 a.m. at Delaware County Linen in Chester, Pennsylvania, about 20 miles outside Philadelphia, according to Justin Tibbels, a spokesperson for the mayor’s office. The company was founded in 1988 and provides linen rental and laundering services to businesses in southeastern Pennsylvania and surrounding states, its website said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Three people injured in the shooting were taken to a nearby hospital, Tibbels said. One of the victims was in critical condition, Commissioner Steven Gretsky said at a news conference<\/u><\/a>. The conditions of the other two were not available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the people shot was the suspect’s supervisor, Chester Mayor Stefan Roots said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Gun violence, workplace violence should not be tolerated anywhere in America,” Roots said. “And we hate to be at its epicenter today.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n The shooting suspect appears to be a disgruntled employee, according to Margie McAboy with the Delaware County District Attorney’s Office. The suspect was taken into custody after attempting to flee, Gretsky said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There was no other information available on the suspect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “We have two individuals who unfortunately have lost their life just by showing up at work today,” District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer told reporters. “The employee came to work today with a firearm, took out his anger on … five employees he works with.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sisters Sandra Castro, 19, and her sister Esthe Castro, 25, were working at different washing machines Wednesday morning when the shooting broke out, they told the\u00a0Philadelphia Inquirer<\/u><\/a>. They heard screams break out on the floor and bolted for the door with their other co-workers.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey were screaming, \u2018He’s killing them! He’s killing them!\u2019\u201d Sandra Castro told the outlet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The sisters said they feared for their lives and were worried about each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “I kept looking for (Sandra),\u201d Esthe Castro told the Inquirer while holding back tears. “I was just so happy when we found each other outside.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n There have been at least 168 mass shootings in the country so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive<\/u><\/a>, which tracks incidents. Mass shootings are shootings in which at least four people have been shot, not including the shooter, regardless of whether they die.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mass killings, as defined by a tracker from USA TODAY, Northeastern University, and the Associated Press, include those with at least four people killed, not including a suspected shooter. There have been 15 such killings in 2014, according to the tracker<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Roots called for “stronger” gun legislation in the wake of the shooting on Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n