CHANDLER, Ariz. (AP) — A suspect has been arrested after allegedly killing a co-worker at a microprocessor manufacturing facility in Chandler with a baseball bat and other weapons and injuring another man, authorities said Sunday.
Chandler police said 50-year-old Derrick Lemond Simmons was booked into a Maricopa County jail Saturday on suspicion of first-degree murder and aggravated assault.
Court documents state that one of the victims was found dead in the Intel Ocotillo Campus cafeteria with blunt-force trauma from a baseball bat along with a hatchet and knife.
Police said the other victim was taken to a hospital with injuries not considered life threatening.
The names and ages of the two men weren’t immediately available Sunday and police said a possible motive for the attack remained unclear.
It also was unknown if Simmons had a lawyer yet who could speak on his behalf.
Simmons also was convicted in 2001 for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, according to court paperwork, but details of that case weren't immediately available.
Police responded to reports of an assault at the Intel Ocotillo Campus around 6:15 a.m. Saturday.
They said Simmons was located in front of the building carrying two duffle bags.
According to court paperwork, witnesses told police that after the night shift employees left, Simmons approached a man at a table in the cafeteria and allegedly hit him multiple times on the head with a baseball bat for an unknown reason.
The other co-worker sitting at the same table was attacked when he stood up to confront Simmons, police said.
Linda Qian, a spokeswoman for Intel Arizona, said the “tragic incident at the Ocotillo campus” was being investigated by Chandler police and the company's security staff.
----
STAY IN TOUCH WITH US ANYTIME, ANYWHERE
- Download our free app for Roku, FireTV, AppleTV, Alexa, and mobile devices.
- Sign up for daily newsletters emailed to you
- Like us on Facebook
- Follow us on Instagram
- Follow us on Twitter
- Follow us on Youtube
