(Newser) – A recently fired worker from an awning company in Florida carefully planned to kill his former colleagues, singling out five and methodically shooting them in the head before taking his own life, authorities say. John Robert Neumann Jr., 45, shot and killed himself at the sound of approaching sirens Monday, reports the AP. He did not appear to belong to any type of subversive or terrorist organization, Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings said. "My experience tells me that this individual made deliberate thought to do what he did today. He had a plan of action," said the sheriff, who wouldn't say why Neumann was fired in April. Demings said Neumann had a "negative relationship" with at least one of his former co-workers in Orlando, and he singled out the former colleagues who were shot.

The shooting began after Neumann slipped through a rear door into the cavernous Fiamma Inc. factory, an area larger than two football fields where awnings are stitched together for recreational vehicles. He paused at least once to reload. Seven other workers were inside at the time but were unharmed. State and federal law enforcement officers converged on the industrial park shortly after 8am after a woman ran out and called 911 from a tile business across the street, said Yamaris Gomez, that store's owner. "All she kept saying was he was holding a gun and told her to get out," Gomez said. That woman had been hired after Neumann was fired in April, so he probably did not recognize her, Deming said, adding investigators are looking through any social media postings for clues. Neumann was honorably discharged from the Army in 1999 and did not have a concealed weapons permit. (Read more shooting stories.)

