Kansas governor to visit site of shooting

HESSTON, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback plans to visit the town where a gunman shot 15 people, killing three before he was fatally shot by a police officer.

Brownback says in a statement that he, Attorney General Derek Schmidt and the head of the Kansas Highway Patrol would meet with law enforcement officials later today in Hesston.

The governor called the shooting at the Excel Industries lawnmower parts plant a terrible tragedy. He also praised the law enforcement community that responded.

He also says it's a time to offer prayers and comfort to the community and not a time to discuss stricter gun control.

A man whose son was wounded in an attack at a Kansas factory says his son told him that when the shooting started, people were yelling "gas fire, gas fire."

Dennis Britton Sr. says his son, Dennis Britton Jr., said he stepped away from his welding bay Thursday at the Excel Industries lawnmower parts factory in Hesston when somebody hollered at him. He says his son heard a pop and then went to the ground.