Muslim US worker beheads colleague

A 30-year-old worker in the US who had recently tried to convert his colleagues to Islam has beheaded one of them with a knife after being sacked from his job.

Police said Friday that the incident happened on Thursday at a food distributor business in Oklahoma where the suspect, identified as 30-year-old Alton Nolen, went on a rampage after being told he had been fired.

AP quotes police spokesperson, Jeremy Lewis, as saying: "Nolen went to the parking lot, then drove his vehicle to the front of the business... Nolen then entered the main entrance into the front office.

"Nolen encountered and killed Colleen Hufford with a knife. During the attack, Nolen severed the victim's head”.

Lewis added: "After conducting interviews with Nolen's co-workers, information was obtained that he recently started trying to convert several employees to the Muslim religion"

The suspect also attacked another colleague with a knife, before being shot by the firm's chief operating officer.

The second knife victim and the suspect were taken to hospital where they are recovering.
Lewis noted that Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) agents were called in because of the nature of the crime.

The incident comes after a series of beheadings of western captives by Islamic State jihadists in Syria and Algeria, but US officials have not confirmed any link to the Oklahoma case.