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Charges expected in Oklahoma workplace beheading

MOORE, Okla. — A prosecutor said Monday that he expects to file a charge of first-degree murder in the beheading of a woman at a food distribution center in an Oklahoma City suburb.

Cleveland County District Attorney Greg Mashburn plans to file charges Tuesday against 30-year-old Alton Nolen.

Moore police Sergeant Jeremy Lewis says Nolen is suspected of attacking two women, beheading one of them, shortly after being fired Thursday at Vaughan Foods in Moore. Police say Mark Vaughan, reserve sheriff's deputy and the company's chief operating officer, ended the attack by shooting Nolen.

Nolen and the second victim were hospitalized and are expected to recover.

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Nolen was released from prison in March 2013 after serving two years of a six-year sentence on charges including assaulting a police officer.

Lewis said Nolen could also face federal charges.

Officials said the motive for the attack had not been determined, but that there is no reason to believe there was a threat to anyone else.

Saad Mohammed, director of information for the Islamic Society of Greater Oklahoma City, said Nolen was a frequent worshiper at one of the group's mosques, starting in May.

Lewis said Nolen was fired by the food company right before the attack, and that he then drove from the building that houses the human resources department to its main distribution center.

Associated Press