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A shooter killed three people after opening fire an multiple locations in Kansas, US on Thursday local time. The gunman was later shot dead by police. Creative Commons/Tony Webster

Updated Friday 5.45pm AEDT

Three people are confirmed dead and 14 injured after a shooter opened fire with a long gun at multiple locations that ended at the lawn care company Excel Industries premises in Hesston, a small community of about 3,700 residents in south-central Kansas, on Thursday local time.

The shooter, an employee at Excel Industries, was later shot dead by a law enforcement official who was the first to arrive at the scene, bringing the total toll to four deceased.

Timeline of the shooting

Harvey County Sheriff T. Walton said authorities were first alerted to the shooter at around 5pm local time in the nearby town of Newton, Kansas. The gunman, while driving, had shot another driver on the road, hitting his shoulder, and shot at another vehicle, although its driver escaped uninjured.

He then shot another man in the leg, before going on a rampage at Excel Industries. He shot one person in the parking lot, before entering the building where he shot 15 people and killed three.

Calls to the police about a multiple shooting at Excel Industries came just minutes after the first call, and police arrived at the scene at approximately 5.06pm local time. The law enforcement official to arrive exchanged gunfire with the shooter, before taking him down.

“There’s so many crime scenes and there’s so many people,” Sheriff Walton said in a news conference, the Washington Post reports.

“This is just a horrible incident that happened here.”

News outlets including KWCH and ABC News are reporting that multiple sources claim the gunman was Cedric Larry Ford, a painter at Excel, although authorities have not officially identified the shooter or his victims.