Officers responding to a reported shooting at a Wal-Mart store in Amarillo on Tuesday shot and killed a man who had taken two people hostage, according to police.
Advertisement
The original call came in at11:06 a.m. local time, and the suspect was shot at 12:22 p.m. Store manager Glen Jones has been identified by the Amarillo Globe-News as one of the hostages. Police later said officers made their way inside the store, a police SWAT crew shot the suspect and there was “no shooting ongoing at this moment”. No other gunshot victims were found during a search of the store.
Officers were sent to the scene in Amarillo, Texas after a reported shooting.
Exact reason for the incident, and whether there were any other motives besides the one cited by the authorities.
The Amarillo Texas Walmart store where an incident of “workplace violence” occurred.
Reports are unclear at this point about the possible motives, death toll, if any, and number of hostages taken.
The incident was first reported about 11 a.m., police said.
Law enforcement officials told local ABC affiliate KVII that it appeared to be a workplace shooting, and witnesses also said that it was a Walmart employee who took another employee hostage. Reportedly, he had entered the store with a pistol in hand and grabbed two store employees, including the store manager, as his hostages.
Moghaddam was wearing a Walmart shirt and khaki trousers, according to witnesses, but it is not known if he was still an employee of the store. One or more hostages were taken by a male suspect inside the store.
Predictably, Twitter racists are already making assumptions with regards to the shooter’s religion and motive, using the incident as an excuse to rally around a presidential candidate who has proposed sweeping bans on immigrants based on their religion or country of origin (there are unconfirmed rumors that the shooter was of Somali descent).
Police and SWAT are on scene and negotiators are inside the Walmart. Police told the Daily News he was an employee at the store. All customers and our two associates who were held hostage are safe. Police asked people to avoid the area so officers could focus on the scene.
Advertisement
“This was a very hard situation and we are thankful for the quick responses from law enforcement”, Walmart said a statement.
