Two people were killed and two more injured following a shooting at a Southaven, Mississippi Walmart early Tuesday morning. The suspect, a former employee of the big box chain store, has been taken into custody, Southaven Police Chief Macon Moore said.
According to Moore, police arrived on scene at the Walmart at 6:36 a.m. local time Tuesday morning after receiving reports of an active shooter at the retail location. Upon arriving, two officers ran into the suspect outside the retailer and they engaged in a short gun battle. One police officer was reportedly hit by gunfire, but his bulletproof armor protected him, and the officer is expected to be OK as he was not seriously hurt, Moore said. Police say the suspect was hit twice in the exchange and wounded. He was rushed to a local hospital where he underwent surgery. His condition is unknown at this time.
Both victims are reportedly employees at the Walmart located near I-55 and Goodman Road, a busy section of Southaven. One victim was found outside in the parking lot, while another was discovered inside the store.
According to WREG, the suspect is a former employee who was suspended from the store on Monday after he pulled a knife on a customer at the store. The suspect apparently returned Tuesday morning and opened fire with an unknown
One witness, Carlito Odom, told the TV station that he was at the store to see his cousin with the chaos broke out.
“By the time I was walking out the building all of the employees just ran past me and I just heard shooting, so I just ran with the crowd," said Odom. "I thought about it ‘let me call my cousin.’ He didn’t answer about six or seven times."
Eventually, his cousin was able to call him back, which filled Odom with relief.
"I just went and talked to him so it made me feel a little better, but he’s just shook up very badly," Odom told WREG. "It's just a real crazy situation."
Moore said his department recently went through an active shooter response training, which was a big help on Tuesday morning.
The Walmart was still considered an "active scene" late Tuesday morning as the Shelby County bomb squad investigated a suspicious package also found within the store.
Walmart President and CEO Greg Foran released a statement Tuesday morning about the shooting:
"The entire Walmart family is heartbroken by the loss of two valued members of our team. We feel tragedies like this personally, and our hearts go out to the families of our two associates and the officer who was injured. We are relieved the suspect was apprehended, and we appreciate the quick response of the local authorities and our associates. We’ll continue to focus on assisting law enforcement in their investigation and on supporting our associates."
The shooting at the Mississippi Walmart comes less than two days after a 19-year-old man cut through a fence at the Gilroy Garlic Festival in Gilroy, California and used an assault-type rifle to kill three people and wound twelve others. The shooter there was killed by police who were working security for the festival.