3 dead in shooting outside Alabama Walmart

TALLASSEE, Ala. — A gunman crashed into a vehicle outside a Walmart store on Tuesday morning, opening fire and killing two women before taking his own life, authorities said.

Tallassee Mayor Johnny Hammock said as an investigation unfolded that it appeared the shooter purposely rammed a car into another vehicle in the store parking lot before he opened fire.

Two women inside the vehicle were fatally wounded, he said, adding the gunman then turned the weapon on himself.

The violence appeared to be related to a domestic dispute and there was no wider danger, Police Chief Matthew Higgins told reporters.

“(We’re) still trying to work out the details. It’s still fresh,” he said.

Authorities didn’t immediately release the names of those involved or any other details of what happened. Hammock said all three people were from an area just outside Tallassee, a town of about 4,800 people roughly 30 miles (50 kilometres) east of Montgomery.

“You just don’t expect anything like this happening, not here in Tallassee,” Dena Samuels said while at a restaurant about a mile from the store. “This is something that happens in a big city.”

Photos showed a white Nissan SUV with what appeared to be multiple gunshots in the windshield and a dented front bumper and fender.