A gunman shot and killed a man and a woman in a Walmart parking lot in Oklahoma before turning the gun on himself when an armed citizen intervened.
According to the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, a man wearing all black opened fire outside the supercenter in Duncan, which is located at 3393 North 81 Highway. Duncan is about 80 miles south of Oklahoma City.
Officers from the Duncan Police Department said the three dead include two men and a woman. Two victims were shot inside their car.
According to local KOCO News, a witness claimed that the shooter fired nine rounds, killing the two victims.
When the gunman was confronted by an armed citizen, he then turned the gun on himself.
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A gunman shot and killed a man and a woman in a Walmart (pictured) parking lot in Duncan, Oklahoma, before turning the gun on himself when an armed citizen intervened
Officers from the Duncan Police Department said the three dead include two men and a woman. A witness claimed that the shooter fired nine rounds, killing the two victims. Aerial footage (pictured) shows police cordoning off a large area of the parking lot
Police are also seen looking at a red vehicle (pictured, with the door open, left) that appears to have multiple bullet holes in the windshield. A body is seen lying next to the vehicle at the crime scene
Shots rang out at the Walmart just before 10am Monday morning, and authorities responded to the scene a short time later.
Aerial footage from Reuters shows police cordoning off a large area of the parking lot.
Police are also seen looking at a red vehicle that appears to have multiple bullet holes in the windshield.
No staff members were involved in the shooting and the store was not evacuated, Walmart spokeswoman LeMia Jenkins said in an email.
‘This was an isolated incident in the parking lot and was not an active shooter situation,’ Jenkins said.
Duncan, Police Chief Danny Ford said that a handgun was found at the scene.
A body is seen lying next to the vehicle at the crime scene. It’s unclear what motivated the attack and an investigation is ongoing.
During the shooting, administrators for the Duncan Public School system alerted parents and the community that schools in the area were placed on lockdown.
‘Duncan Public Schools is aware of the report of a shooting at Duncan Wal-Mart,’ officials initially wrote.
‘As always we are taking every precaution to protect our staff and students. At this time all schools are in lockdown due to this report. Schools will operate as normal, but visitors will not be admitted until police report it is safe.’
According to the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, a man wearing all black opened fire outside the supercenter in Duncan (depicted above), which is located at 3393 North 81 Highway
Officers collecting evidence and interviewing witnesses at the scene of the crime on Monday
The lockdown was lifted just before 11.30am.
Monday’s shooting comes just hours after four people were shot dead in Fresno, California.
Police are searching for suspects and trying to determine a motive for the shooting deaths of four men who were at a backyard party.
Six others were wounded during the shooting as they watched football on TV.
Fresno Police Lt Bill Dooley said ‘unknown suspects’ sneaked into the backyard at about 6pm Sunday and fired into the crowd.
Fresno Deputy Police Chief Michael Reid said 10 people were shot. Three were found dead in the backyard and a fourth person died at the hospital. The six others are expected to survive and are recovering at a hospital.
The victims were men ranging in age from 25 to 35, Reid said.
The Oklahoma shooting also comes just months after a gunman opened fire inside a Walmart in El, Paso, Texas, killing 22 people.
In the wake of that shooting which occurred in August, along with an Ohio shooting that happened within 24 hours of one another, Walmart announced that ammunition for assault rifles and handguns would no longer be sold in its 4,177 stores.
At the time, the company also announced that customers would be banned from openly carrying firearms inside its stores.
In the case of the recent shooting, Oklahoma has long been an ‘open’ or ‘concealed’ carry state, allowing most adults to carry guns openly without a permit as long as they have a ‘legitimate purpose and aren’t violating other laws’.
As of November 1, 2019, Oklahoma became even more gun friendly by passing a law to eliminate the license requirement for carrying concealed handguns.
