A man opened fire at the Mad Butcher grocery store in Arkansas' Fordyce on Friday, killing at least 3 person and injuring 10 others, authorities said.
State police said that the injured persons also include two law enforcement officers who exchanged fire with the shooter. The incident reportedly took place at around 11:30 am at the grocery store.
The Arkansas State Police named the suspected shooter as one 44-year-old Travis Eugene Posey of New Edinburg. They said that Posey will be charged with three counts of Capital Murder, with additional charges pending.
Following the shooting, Col Mike Hagar -- director of state police and public safety secretary -- said, "It's tragic, our hearts are broken."
Hagar said that neither the officers' nor the suspected shooter's injuries were fatal, adding that the civilians' wounds ranged from "non-life threatening to extremely critical".
As per the state police, Posey was treated for non-life threatening injuries after exchanging gunfire with law enforcement, released to Arkansas State police's custody and then moved to the Ouachita County Detention Center.
With supermarket attacks, previously a white supremacist killed 10 Black people at a Buffalo supermarket in 2022. A not over a year later one at a Boulder, Colorado supermarket, where 10 persons were killed.
A member of city council, Roderick Rogers, reportedly called the county sheriff when the employees at his restaurant nearby alerted him about the shooting. When he got there, he said, people were running in chaos in every direction, with one even running to the nearby hospital.
"People were just jumping into cars to get to safety," Rogers said.
A video of the incident, going viral on social media, showed at least on person lying on the ground in the parking lot while another captured multiple gunshots being fired.
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Another witness, Amiya Doherty, who was in her mother's car in the parking lot at the time of the incident, said that she initially thought the sound was of fireworks. But when she saw a man holding a gun and opening fire, 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.
Visuals from the scene of the incident show vehicles and the grocery store's window lodged with a sea of bullets. Local and state agencies were seen attending to the scene with at least on helicopter landing nearby.
Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that she was informed about the shooting. She thanked the law enforcement and first responders for their prompt and heroic action to save lives. "My prayers are with the victims and all those impacted by this," she said in her X post.
Communication from the White House said that President Joe Biden had also been briefed about the shooting, adding that the team will continue keeping him updated.
Meanwhile, another witness -- a 58-year-old David Rodriguez had stopped at a local gas station in Fordyce to fill up his car when he heard what he thought was to be fireworks. "We heard a few little pops," he said.
He said that he then saw people running from the Mad Butcher grocery store and towards the parking lot. He also confirmed that one person was lying on the ground.
“The police started to show up, and then there was massive gunfire and ambulances pulling up,” he said, adding that “the bullets were just flying.”
(With agency inputs)
