( CNN ) -- At least 10 people were killed Tuesday in a shooting spree that spanned two small southern Alabama towns , state officials confirmed . The gunman , who turned the gun on himself , and the wife and child of a sheriff 's deputy were among those killed . An ambulance rushes to the scene of a multiple shooting in Samson , Alabama , on Tuesday afternoon . The shooting started in a neighborhood in Samson , a town of about 3,000 about 15 miles north of the Florida border , just after 4 p.m. ( 5 p.m . ET ) and ended 12 miles away at a manufacturing plant in Geneva , said Alabama state Sen. Harri Anne Smith , who represents Geneva County . `` He was shooting at just ordinary people going about their business , '' Smith told CNN , saying she had been briefed by state and local law enforcement . The gunman , whose identity was not disclosed , shot himself at the Reliable Metal Products plant , state public safety spokesman Kevin Cook told CNN . Authorities are also investigating an arson at a residence in neighboring Coffee County , where a body was found . That incident is thought to be related to the shootings , Cook said . Investigators are trying to determine whether the gunman , who Cook said was armed with a semi-automatic weapon , knew any of the victims . State police Cpl . Steve Jarrett told reporters that the gunman killed six adults and one child in three residences in Samson , before heading down state Highway 52 , firing at least seven bullets into a state trooper car . The trooper sustained minor injuries from shattered glass . Geneva County Sheriff Greg Ward said one of his deputies lost his wife and toddler in the shooting at the first house . An infant was also wounded . Watch Sheriff Ward describe what happened » . `` I ca n't describe what happened , why it happened , '' Ward told CNN affiliate WTVY . `` It 's just a sad day for Geneva County . '' The gunman then killed another person at Samson Pipe and Supply and then another at a service station -- both on Highway 52 , Jarrett said . Watch CNN 's Anderson Cooper talk about the investigation » . A witness told CNN Radio she saw a woman 's body at the Big-Little Store service station off the highway as people gathered at the crime scene . The gunman ended up at the Reliable Metal Products plant in Geneva , where police rammed his vehicle , forcing him to get out . He fired a 30-round burst with what appeared to be an M16 , grazing Police Chief Frankie Lindsey with a bullet . Watch a timeline of the shootings » . `` Then the subject entered the business . Within minutes , shots were heard . ... Law enforcement officers found him dead , '' Jarrett said . `` There are believed to be additional people shot and wounded during these episodes , '' he said . Watch the aftermath of the shooting spree » . Sheriff 's officials says the gunman was a former employee of Reliable Metal , CNN affiliate WEAR-TV reported . The FBI bureau in Mobile , Alabama , sent an agent to assist the Geneva County sheriff 's office and local police , a spokeswoman for the FBI said . Col. Christopher Murphy , head of the Alabama Department of Public Safety , called the southern Alabama shooting spree `` the worst that DPS has a memory of . '' Another mass killing occurred in southern Alabama in 2002 , when Westley Devon Harris gunned down six members of his 16-year-old girlfriend 's family at their farm in Luverne . Harris was convicted and sentenced to the death penalty in 2005 .
The gunman and the wife and child of a sheriff 's deputy among those killed . Gunman , ex-employee of Reliable Metal , turned weapon on himself , officials say . Slayings occur in Samson and Geneva , two small towns near Florida border . State senator : `` He was shooting at just ordinary people going about their business ''