VIDEO: Kansas Active Shooter Kills 3, Wounds 14, Before Being Stopped by Single "Heroic" Officer

Three people were killed and 14 injured Thursday after a gunman drove through two Kansas towns taking shots at people before opening fire at his workplace, police said. The rampage was stopped by a single officer who braved incoming fire to engage and kill the gunman.

The assailant, who was identified by victims' family members as Cedric Larry Ford, was armed with a long gun and a pistol during the "mass shooting" in Newton and Hesston, nearby towns about 30 miles north of Wichita, according to officials.

The entire incident lasted just 26 minutes — from when the gunman shot and injured a person and stole a truck, until the first police officer on the scene shot him dead shortly after 5 p.m. local time (6 p.m. ET).

Ford was killed at Excel Industries, a lawn-care company in Hesston where he worked. Fifteen of the victims were shot inside the building — including all three who died, Harvey County Sheriff T. Walton told a news briefing Thursday night. Five of the wounded remained in serious condition Friday morning, NBC News reports.

By the time the first police officer arrived at the scene the gunman was "actively shooting at any targets that came into his sights," Walton told the news conference.