Amazon worker shot, colleague returns fire killing suspect outside facility

An Amazon contract worker was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries after a gunman allegedly opened fire at an Amazon facility in Arizona Wednesday, according to police.

The alleged gunman was shot and killed by a second Amazon contract worker who returned fire, investigators said.

The incident occurred in the parking lot of an Amazon Flex facility in Chandler, Arizona, around 9:30 a.m. local time, police said.

The suspect, identified as Jacob Murphy, 29, who allegedly fired multiple rounds at one of the contracted workers before a second contract worker returned fire, Sgt. Jason McClimans of the Chandler Police Department told reporters at a news conference.

The unidentified wounded worker was taken to a local hospital in “life-threatening condition,” according to McClimans. Murphy was not employed by Amazon and was declared dead at the scene, police said.

“At this time, police cannot determine if the actions of the third male resulted in Murphy’s death or if Murphy took his own life,” the police said in a statement.

The second unidentified contracted worker who fired at the suspect was cooperating with the investigation, McClimans said.

The investigation was ongoing.

“We do not know what led up to this,” he said. “We believe this was confined to one suspect only.”

The Amazon facility and local schools were locked down when the shooting took place, according to police.

“We weren’t sure if this was an active shooter, but within 20 minutes, we were able to lift those lockdowns,” McClimans said.

Bryton Bobbitt, a contracted Amazon worker, told ABC affiliate KNXV he was getting ready for a normal workday when the shooting occurred.

“All of a sudden, just hear pop, pop, pop. [I] start looking around, like where did that come from? A few of our other workers started running,” he told the affiliate. “I was already in my work van, I put it in gear and tried to find a safe place and got out of here.”

A spokesman from Amazon told ABC News that operations at the facility were suspended following the incident and all employees and partners were sent home with pay.

“We’re deeply saddened by this senseless act of violence in our parking lot. We’re working closely with law enforcement as they investigate and are focused on supporting our team during this difficult time,” Richard Rocha, an Amazon spokesperson, said in a statement.