Up to four people have been killed and around 20 wounded after a gunman went on a shooting spree in an industrial area in Kansas.

Police say the suspect, who has been named as 38-year-old Cedric Ford, is among the dead.

He was an employee of Excel Industries, a lawn mower manufacturer in the town of Hesston.

The Harvey County Sheriff, T. Walton, said it was "possible" three or four people had been killed in the attacks.

They included Ford who drove around firing from his car before he was shot dead by police inside the Excel building.

Multiple crime scenes

Sheriff Walton told reporters there were "a number of crime scenes involved".

"This is just a horrible incident that's happened here," he said. "There are going to be a lot of sad people before this is all over."

Witnesses said Ford first shot a woman in the parking lot of Excel Industries before entering the assembly area and opening fire there.

"We want to know what triggered this. We need to know the history of the shooter," Mr Walton said.

Eyewitness account

An Excel worker who was in the plant at the time said he heard people yelling to others to get out of the building.

Martin Espinoza was then confronted by Ford, a colleague he described as normally calm.

He said he pointed a gun at him and squeezed the trigger but luckily it was empty and he managed to escape.

One local hospital said it was treating six of the attack victims and that five were in a serious condition.

Another said it had received three of the injured.

Hesston is a community of around 3,700 people.

The incident comes less than a week after a man shot dead six people in Kalamazoo, Michigan.