The shooting was the work of a lone gunman, who died Saturday. Police do not know why McGlothlin apparently randomly attacked Ford and the other three people inside the laundromat. Daylight on Friday revealed the horror that the five people endured inside the laundromat. More: 4 shot; 1 dead, 1 critical in laundromat shooting on South Street.
Ford had been sitting at a table on the southwest side of the laundromat, police said. A large Styrofoam cup sat undisturbed Friday morning on the table next to a pack of menthol cigarettes and a bag of snacks. A plastic water bottle lay under the table. On the other side of the laundromat, an advanced math book and an opened notebook remained untouched on a table where a Purdue student β a man β had been studying, police said.
The student ran out the door when the shooting started and was unharmed, police said. The scene Friday morning showed carts of wet laundry just taken out of the washer but not yet put into the dryer, as well as clothes still in dryers and washers. Plastic laundry baskets sat stacked beside the dryers awaiting folded clothes and a trip home.
Police officers remained at the scene of the closed business Friday. McGlothlin, who police said shot Ford, was the only shooter in the Thursday night attack, police said. When the attack stopped, year-old Ford, of Lafayette, lay mortally wounded in the southwest corner of the laundromat.
They remained hospitalized Friday in stable condition, police said. Police do not yet have a reason or motive for McGlothlin's attack. They do not know whether Ford and McGlothlin knew each other, police said, or whether McGlothlin knew anyone inside the laundromat. When he stopped shooting, McGlothlin stepped into the parking lot beside his pickup truck and shot himself in the head, police said.
