Police: Employee fatally shoots supervisors at plant

ATHENS, Tenn. (AP) — The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation says a fatal shooting at an East Tennessee plant occurred while an employee was meeting with his supervisors.

TBI spokeswoman Susan Niland said on Friday that the investigation indicates 45-year-old Ricky Swafford became upset while talking with two supervisors at the Thomas & Betts Corp. plant and left the building before returning a short time later with a gun and fatally shooting 44-year-old James Zotter and 68-year-old Sandra Cooley.

She said Swafford was later found dead in a bathroom from what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

The shooting was reported about 4:15 p.m. Thursday at the plant in Athens.

Thomas & Betts' headquarters is in suburban Memphis. It designs and makes electrical components for industrial, commercial, lighting and utility markets.