By Canadian Press

2 dead in suspected murder-suicide outside Arkansas plant

Feb 14, 2018 | 8:28 AM

NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Two people died early Wednesday in a suspected murder-suicide outside of a cosmetics factory near Little Rock, police said.

The shooting was reported shortly after 3 a.m. in the parking lot of a plant that makes cosmetics for the Maybelline and L’Oreal brands.

North Little Rock police said 19-year-old Chasity Denise Cannady and 32-year-old Jim Gilot were found shot to death. Investigators believe that Gilot shot Cannady before shooting himself, police said in a news release.

Police said Cannady worked at the plant and Gilot had been an employee there too, though officers are not yet sure whether he was still working there at the time of his death. Police have not said how Cannady and Gilot may have known each other or indicated what may have led to the shooting.

Maybelline is among several brands in L’Oreal’s consumer products division, along with L’Oreal Paris, Garnier and others. L’Oreal USA offered no details about the shooting in a statement Wednesday.

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“We are working closely with the authorities as they investigate this tragedy that occurred on our property early this morning,” it said. “We do not have further information to share at this point and remain focused on supporting our employees.”

The factory is near a major Interstate 40 interchange that connects travellers between Memphis, Tennessee, and Dallas. It makes products such as mascara, eye shadow and lip glosses under the Maybelline and L’Oreal brands, as well as high-end cosmetics for other luxury brands.

Signs outside the factory note that weapons aren’t allowed. “The carrying of a handgun or other weapon is prohibited on the premises,” a sign along Maybelline Road says.

The Associated Press