On a tragic Thursday, February 25, 2016, the life of 30-year-old Renee Randall Benjamin, an African American woman, was cut short in a senseless act of violence that shook the small town of Hesston, Kansas. Benjamin was one of three victims fatally shot inside the Excel Industries plant, a lawnmower manufacturing facility where she worked. The day took a grim turn when a fellow employee, Cedric Larry Ford, embarked on a shooting spree that spanned across Newton and Hesston.
The series of
attacks began in the late afternoon when Ford, armed with a semi-automatic rifle and a pistol, started firing at random vehicles. He injured several people before making his way to the Excel Industries facility. Upon arrival, he shot a woman in the parking lot before entering the building and indiscriminately firing at his coworkers. Inside the plant, amidst the chaos and terror, Renee Benjamin, along with two other colleagues, Joshua Higbee and Brian Sadowsky, lost their lives. The rampage left an additional 14 people wounded.
The perpetrator, 38-year-old Cedric Ford, was ultimately confronted and killed by Hesston Police Chief Doug Schroeder, whose swift action was credited with saving many more lives. Investigations later revealed that Ford had been served with a protection from abuse order just 90 minutes before he commenced his deadly assault, a factor believed to have triggered the violence.
In the aftermath, a woman named Sarah Jo Hopkins faced legal consequences for her role in the tragedy. She pleaded guilty to knowingly transferring a firearm to Ford, who as a convicted felon was legally barred from possessing one. Hopkins had purchased the weapons for Ford, which he then used in the devastating attack at Excel Industries.
