A gunman burst into a sprawling Safeway Inc. warehouse, killing one person, wounding five others and sending terrified workers fleeing the building. The attacker was later killed in a shootout with police.

Police vehicles officers block the entrance to a Safeway Inc. distribution center in Denver while officers respond to a gunman who opened fire and killed one person while wounding five others Sunday, June 25, 2006. Police report that the gunman was found dead in the facility. [AP]

Several fires also were set inside the distribution center Sunday a few miles northeast of downtown along the busy Interstate 70, authorities said.

Police Chief Gerry Whitman said more than 150 employees were forced to evacuate -- including Raymond Rivas, who had recently moved from California to what he believed would be a safer place.

"I can't imagine this happening out here," said Rivas. "It could happen anywhere."

Police received several 911 calls reporting the shooting by 3:12 p.m. About an hour after entering the warehouse, officers confronted the suspect, who then shot 38-year-old SWAT officer Derick Dominguez with a handgun in the left hip, Whitman said. Dominguez also suffered a broken leg.

An officer then shot and killed the suspect, Whitman said. As officers swept through the 1.3 million-square-foot center, they later found another victim who was dead.

Police spokesman Sonny Jackson said at least one 911 caller named employee Michael Ford as being involved in the shootings, but police did not immediately confirm the gunman's identity.

A Safeway spokesman, Jeff Stroh, said Ford worked filling orders in the produce department and was employed at the center for more than a year.

Whitman said there was no reason to believe there was more than one suspect, though the investigation was expected to continue Monday.

By late Sunday, two victims were in critical condition, two others, including Dominguez, were in serious condition, and one had been released from Denver Health Medical Center, hospital spokeswoman Benny Samuels said.

Safeway worker Jesus Lopez told KMGH-TV he was about 20 feet away from the gunman. "He was just shooting and lighting fires. He wanted to turn the building on fire," Lopez told KMGH. "I just ran. Everybody just ran out."

Stroh said he believed parts of the warehouse would reopen Monday and that store officials had contacted grief counselors for employees.

The company planned to evaluate its safety policies, he said. "Whenever workplace violence occurs, you really have to take a step back and look at what you're doing," Stroh said.