HESSTON, Kan. (AP) — A sheriff says the police officer who shot and killed a gunman who was attacking the central Kansas factory where he worked is a “tremendous hero.”

Authorities say the attacker shot and wounded three people before storming into the factory, where he shot 15 others, killing three of them, before the officer killed him.  Harvey County Sheriff T. Walton says there were still hundreds in the factory and that “the shooter wasn’t done by any means.”

Walton said Friday that had the Hesston police officer not killed the man during the Thursday evening attack at the Excel Industries lawnmower parts plant, it “would be a whole lot more tragic.”

He says there were still 200 or 300 other people in the factory and that “the shooter wasn’t done by any means.”

Walton didn’t identify the officer or the attacker.