Police: Fired worker beheaded Oklahoma woman

This Oct. 18, 2011 photo provided by the Oklahoma Department of Corrections shows Alton Nolen, of Moore, Okla. Prison records indicate that Nolen, the suspect in the beheading of a co-worker at an Oklahoma food processing plant Thursday, Sept. 25, 2014, had spent time in prison and was on probation for assaulting a police officer. (AP Photo/Oklahoma Department of Corrections) This Oct. 18, 2011 photo provided by the Oklahoma Department of Corrections shows Alton Nolen, of Moore, Okla. Prison records indicate that Nolen, the suspect in the beheading of a co-worker at an Oklahoma food processing plant Thursday, Sept. 25, 2014, had spent time in prison and was on probation for assaulting a police officer. (AP Photo/Oklahoma Department of Corrections)

By Associated Press September 27, 2014 3 min read

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) – A man fired from an Oklahoma food processing plant beheaded a woman with a knife and was attacking another worker when he was shot and wounded by a company official, police say.

Moore Police Sgt. Jeremy Lewis said police are waiting until Alton Nolen, 30, is conscious to arrest him and have asked the FBI to help investigate after co-workers at Vaughan Foods in the south Oklahoma City suburb told authorities that he recently started trying to convert several employees to Islam.

During Thursday’s attack, Nolen severed the head of Colleen Hufford, 54, Lewis said.

“Yes, she was beheaded,” Lewis told The Associated Press before a Friday news conference.

Lewis said Nolen then stabbed Traci Johnson, 43, a number of times before Mark Vaughan, a reserve sheriff’s deputy and the company’s chief operating officer, shot him.