An Oklahoma twister took her house and a local maniac took her life.
Colleen Hufford, the 54-year-old woman who was savagely beheaded by a deranged co-worker, was working at Vaughan Foods when a deadly tornado tore through Moore, Okla., last year and flattened her home.
But the food plant proved to be no sanctuary Thursday when Alton Nolen stormed inside and attacked Hufford, the first person who crossed his path.
“I just can’t imagine that,” said Deb Martin, 63, who was Hufford’s neighbor before the tornado struck. “Every time I saw her, she had a smile on her face. She was a really jolly and upbeat person.”
The FBI is now investigating the outbreak of Islamic State-like terror in the heartland because Nolen recently converted to Islam and had been trying to convert others.
Martin, who rebuilt after the 2013 twister that killed 24 Moore residents, said she immediately thought of ISIS and their videotaped beheadings when she heard what happened to her old neighbor.
“I know you read about it in other parts” of the world, Martin, 63, said. “But here in Moore? At Vaughan’s Foods? And she is the first person he sees? It sounds like ISIS.”
Police said there was no evidence that Nolen’s newfound faith figured in the grisly attack on Hufford and another woman who worked at the plant.
“This suspect was angry about some sort of incident that happened at the business,” Sgt. Jeremy Lewis of the Moore Police Department said. “These women really had nothing to do with that. He was just acting out against them. They are the first people he came in contact with.”
But NewsOK, the web operation of The Oklahoman newspaper, snagged a Facebook statement from a woman they believe is Nolen’s sister. They did not identify her.
“He is alive and doing well,” the message read. “Thanks to all praying warriors out there friends and family. To god be the glory! My bro is alive and just know that the devil is a lie. Please continue prayers.”
The Islamic Council of Oklahoma said they had not heard of Nolen before the deadly attack.
“He was not known to any of the leadership in Oklahoma mosques,” said Sheryl Siddiqui, the group’s flack. “We do not have any confirmation of his conversion either in prison or out in the community.”
But local mosques were taking security precautions just in case.
“They have this ISIS thing on their minds and now this guy has brought it to America,” Saad Mohammad, a spokesman for the Islamic Society of Greater Oklahoma City, told NewsOK.
Nolen, 30, went on a rampage not long after he was fired, Lewis said. It was not immediately clear why he was sacked or how long he had worked for the company.
Around 4 p.m. Thursday, Nolen arrived back at the plant, clipping a car with his SUV, and barged into the front office where he attacked Hufford.
With a knife, Nolen stabbed the poor women in the neck so hard he severed her head, Lewis said.
Then Nolen went after 43-year-old Traci Johnson, stabbing her repeatedly with the same knife. She was in stable condition at a local hospital.
Alerted by the screams, Vaughan Foods chief operating officer Mark Vaughan shot Nolen and ended his rampage.
“He’s a hero in this situation,” Lewis said. “It could have gotten a lot worse.”
Vaughan built the company with business partner Herb Grimes and stayed on as COO after they sold the firm in June.
“You can’t help but be proud of him,” Grimes told the Daily News. “Mark was a Boy Scout. I think he’s still very active in the Boy Scouts … If he didn’t stop him, this guy would have continued stabbing people.”
In various interviews Vaughan described himself as an active sportsman who goes quail hunting, backpacking and hiking.
“I also love watching my kids’ sporting events,” he said, noting his son Tyler plays baseball and football, and his daughter, Anica, plays basketball and volleyball.
Less was known about Nolen, who was recuperating at a nearby hospital and had not yet been charged with a crime. But he has had several run-ins with the law since 2011.
Among other things, Nolen’s rap sheet includes arrests for possession of a controlled substance, assault and battery on a police officer, and escape from detention.
Citing local Corrections Department records, NewsOK reported that Nolen has tattooed on his abdomen “as-salaamu alaikum,” which is Arabic for “peace be with you.”
But Nolen also has a “Jesus Christ” tattoo on his chest, “Judah” tattooed on his left arm, and a pair of praying hands inked on his right arm, according to NewsOK.
Vaughan Foods reopened Friday and most of the 300 workers were back at their jobs.
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Transcript of 911 calls, according to KFOR-TV:
911 Caller: “Shut the door, shut the door!”
Dispatcher: “Moore 911, where is your emergency?”
911 Caller: “Vaughan Foods, Moore, Oklahoma, 216 N.E. 12th St. We have..”
Dispatcher: “What’s going on there?”
911 Caller: “We have someone attacking someone in the building. I was just informed. I’m in the..”
Dispatcher: “Okay, where are they at?”
911 Caller: “Inside, are they in the office? They’re in the office, front office of the building. Yeah, we can hear a lot of screaming. We’re actually in a different office but someone just came in here yelling.”
Dispatcher: “315. Okay, do you know where they’re at in the building?”
911 Caller: “In the front of the building, there’s our main entrance.”
Dispatcher: “Okay, do you know where he is at in the plant?”
911 Caller: “We know that he’s loose. He has stabbed someone.”
Dispatcher: “Yeah, we’ve got medical en route for them.
911 Caller: “Okay.”
Dispatcher: “Is anybody with him or do you know?”
911 Caller: “Hold on, my (garbled.)
Dispatcher: “Respond on lacerations. Vaughan Foods, 216, go ahead sir, N.E. 12th.”
911 Caller: “I’m going to put you on speakerphone for one second, okay?”
Dispatcher: “Standby on a map. Page 1608, time out.”
911 Caller: “Okay, so we don’t know where the person went and he went through our front office, went through the shipping office and stabbed a woman in our customer service department.”
Dispatcher: “Okay, did he know her? Do you know, is that who he was arguing with? Is she an employee?”
911 Caller: “She is an employee, yeah.”
Dispatcher: “Okay, thank you.”
911 Caller: “Lock that door.”
Dispatcher: “Yeah, go ahead lock everybody in there if you can.”
911 Caller: “Yeah, we’re trying. Okay, can you hear this in the background?”
(yelling)
Dispatcher: “Is that him? He’s back?”
911 Caller: “Yeah, it sounds like he’s running around out here.”
(loud bangs)
911 Caller: “And that, that’s a gun shot.”
Dispatcher: “Got a gun shot. Units responding to Vaughan Foods, be advised we do now have gunshots. Okay, do you know where he’s at now?”
911 Caller: “He’s in the hallway, outside of the center of the building.”
Dispatcher: “Maybe in the hallway in the center of the building. And how many more shots have you heard?”
911 Caller: “We’ve heard three.”
Dispatcher: “Three shots?”
911 Caller: “Now I’m hearing somebody yelling in the hallway, stay down.”
Dispatcher: “There’s another subject yelling in the hallway. Units be advised that there’s another subject yelling in the hallway. Still same amount of injuries.”
911 Caller: “Stay down, stay down.”
Kristi Eaton reported from Moore, Okla.
With Meg Wagner and Michael Walsh
