Law enforcement officers work at the scene of a shooting at the Mad Butcher grocery store in Fordyce, Arkansas, on June 21, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

Police said a fourth victim has died a day after a shooter opened fire at an Arkansas grocery store, wounding nine others and riddling cars with bullet holes as panicked bystanders scrambled for cover.

The person died on June 22, Arkansas state police said in a statement, listing a total of 14 people as hit by gunfire: “11 civilians, two law enforcement officers and the suspect.” The dead were identified as Shirley Taylor (62), Callie Weems (23), Roy Sturgis (50) and Ellen Shrum (81) — “all civilians,” according to the statement.

“The wounded range in age between 20 and 65,” police said. Four were still hospitalised, including a woman who was in critical condition. The wounded agents were identified as Fordyce Police Officer James Johnson (31) who was released from a hospital on Saturday evening, and Stuttgart Police Officer John Hudson (24) whose injuries were said to be minor.

Police said the suspect is Travis Eugene Posey (44) of New Edinburg and he will be charged with four counts of capital murder.

“He was treated for non-life-threatening injuries after exchanging gunfire with law enforcement” and was then released to police custody and taken to the Ouachita County Detention Centre,” police said in the statement.

Police have not released a motive. A media briefing to update about the shooting was announced for 2 p.m. on June 23.

As of Friday, a state police spokesperson did not know if Posey had an attorney, and there was no immediate response to a phone message left with the agency’s public information office on Saturday night.

The Ouachita County Sheriff’s Office confirmed on Saturday that he was being held at the detention centre but had no information about a possible lawyer. No inmate record was online for him yet.

The shooting took place around 11.30 a.m. on Friday at the Mad Butcher grocery store in Fordyce, a city of about 3,200 people located 65 miles (104 km) south of Little Rock.

Roderick Rogers, a member of the city council, said he called the sheriff when employees at his restaurant nearby notified him of the shooting. When he got there, he saw people running for cover in every direction, even one running to the hospital nearby. “People were just jumping into cars to get to safety,” Mr. Rogers said on Friday.

Video posted on social media showed at least one person lying in the parking lot, while another captured multiple gunshots ringing out.

Images from reporters on the scene showed a slew of bullet holes in the store’s window, and spent shell casings strewn throughout the parking lot. In video images, local and state agencies could be seen responding with at least one medical helicopter landing nearby.

It was the latest mass shooting with a grocery store as its backdrop. In 2022 a white supremacist killed 10 Black people at a Buffalo supermarket. That came a little more than a year after 10 people were fatally shot at supermarket in Boulder, Colorado.

Amaravati:

A 32-year-old man from Andhra Pradesh was among four persons killed in firing at a grocery store in Arkansas in the United States.

The victim from Andhra Pradesh was identified as Dasari Gopikrishna, a native of Bapatla district who had gone to the US only eight months ago.

He was working at the Mad Butcher grocery store at Fordyce, a small town in Arkansas, where a gunman opened fire on June 21.

Gopikrishna, who was at the billing counter, sustained critical injuries. He succumbed at a hospital the next day. His family in Yajali in Karlapalem mandal of Bapatla district was shattered on receiving the news.

Gopikrishna is survived by a wife and a son.

Four persons were killed and nine injured when the gunman opened fire inside the store and at the parking lot.

Meanwhile, CCTV footage of the assailant entering the store and opening fire on the man at the counter has emerged. As the victim collapsed on the ground, the gunman jumped over the counter and escaped after lifting something from the shelf.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

A shooter opened fire at an Arkansas supermarket on Friday, killing three civilians and wounding 10 other people, including two police officers, Arkansas State Police said.

The suspect was also wounded in a shootout with police, Arkansas State Police Director Mike Hagar told reporters.

The shooting occurred at the Mad Butcher grocery in Fordyce, a town of 3,200 people about 70 miles (112 km) south of Little Rock.

“Unfortunately, we can confirm that 11 innocent civilians were shot, and three of those are deceased. Two law enforcement officers were injured in the exchange of gunfire. The suspect was also shot and taken into custody,” Hagar said. He did not explain the circumstances of the shooting or take questions.

The wounded police officers and the suspect were expected to survive, he said.

Civilian injuries ranged from non-life-threatening to extremely critical, he said.

Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders said on social media platform X that she was briefed on the incident.

“I am thankful to law enforcement and first responders for their quick and heroic action to save lives. My prayers are with the victims and all those impacted by this horrific incident,” she said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Damage can be seen to a front window law enforcement officers work the scene of a shooting at the Mad Butcher grocery store in Fordyce, Ark., on June 21, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

A shooter who opened fire on June 21 at a grocery store in Arkansas left the store and parked cars riddled with bullet holes as bystanders ducked for cover both indoors and in the parking lot, killing 3 people and wounding 10 others, authorities said.

The wounded included two law enforcement officers who exchanged fire with the shooter, state police said. The shooting occurred about 11:30 a.m. at the Mad Butcher grocery store in Fordyce, a city of about 3,200 people located 65 miles (104 kilometers) south of Little Rock.

“It’s tragic, our hearts are broken,” Col. Mike Hagar, director of State Police and public safety secretary, told reporters Friday.

Neither the officers’ nor the suspected shooter’s injuries were life threatening. The remaining injuries ranged from “not life-threatening to extremely critical,” Hagar said.

It’s the latest mass shooting where a grocery store is its backdrop. A white supremacist in 2022 killed 10 Black people at a Buffalo supermarket. That shooting came a little more than a year after one at a Boulder, Colorado, supermarket, where 10 people were killed.

Police did not immediately say whether the shooting occurred inside or outside the store. Police did not identify the suspected shooter or the victims, but said they expected to release more information Friday night.

Roderick Rogers, a member of the city council, said he called the county sheriff when employees at his restaurant nearby notified him of the shooting.

Rogers said when he got there, he saw people running for cover in every direction, even one running to the hospital nearby.

“People were just jumping into cars to get to safety,” Rogers said.

Video posted on social media showed at least one person lying in the parking lot, while another captured multiple gunshots ringing out.

Amiya Doherty said she was in her mother’s car in the grocery store’s parking lot when she heard what she was thought was fireworks. When she saw a man holding a gun and firing, she said she ducked out of view.

“I held my sister’s hand and I told her I love her,” Doherty told Little Rock television station KATV.

Images from reporters on the scene showed a slew of bullet holes in the grocery store’s window, and spent shell casings strewn throughout the parking lot. In video footage, local and state agencies could be seen responding to the scene, with at least one medical helicopter landing nearby.

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said she had been briefed on the shooting.

“I am thankful to law enforcement and first responders for their quick and heroic action to save lives,” Sanders posted on the social media platform X. “My prayers are with the victims and all those impacted by this.”

The White House said President Joe Biden has been briefed on the shooting and his team will continue to keep him updated.

David Rodriguez, 58, had stopped at his local gas station in Fordyce to fill up his car when he heard what he thought were fireworks from a nearby vendor’s stand.

“We heard a few little pops,” he said.

He then saw people running from the Mad Butcher grocery store into the parking lot, and one person lying on the ground. He began recording video with his phone before the gunfire escalated.

“The police started to show up, and then there was massive gunfire and ambulances pulling up,” he said. “The bullets were just flying.”