2 dead, 2 injured in shooting at Walmart
Miss. store manager among those killed
SOUTHAVEN, Miss. — A gunman described as a disgruntled Walmart employee fatally shot two co-workers and wounded a police officer before he was shot and arrested Tuesday morning at a Walmart store in northern Mississippi, authorities said.
DeSoto County District Attorney John Champion said 39-yearold Martez Terrell Abram shot a Southaven police officer, who was wearing a bulletproof vest and suffered minor injuries. Southaven Police Chief Macon Moore said a second Southaven officer shot Abram, who underwent surgery at a hospital in neighboring Memphis, Tennessee.
Both the people killed were Walmart employees, Moore said. Employees told the Associated Press that the first shot was fired in the parking lot and the second was inside the store.
Southaven Mayor Darren Musselwhite described the suspect as a worker with a grievance against his employer. Abram, a Southaven resident, had been suspended from the store in recent days after showing a knife to a co-worker. A police report had been filed, but Champion said Abram didn’t appear to have threatened the co-worker and criminal charges weren’t being pursued.
“It wasn’t an accident,” said Travis Jones, an overnight stocker who was working when he heard shots. “He knew what he was doing when he came in there.”
Jones said he saw the body of store manager Anthony Brown on the floor as they ran out of the store. DeSoto County Coroner Joshua Pounders said the 40-yearold Brown, an Olive Branch resident, appears to have died from a gunshot wound.
Nicholas Gales said the other slain worker was his brother, 38-year-old Brandon Gales of Hernando. Jones called Brandon Gales an “all-around good guy,” saying he was the father of multiple children.
The shooting at about 6:30 a.m. brought a massive police response to the shopping complex at a busy exit off Interstate 55 in Southaven, a suburb of 55,000 people.
“Our police really showed their guts today,” Musselwhite said, noting Southaven officers recently undertook active shooter training. “If it hadn’t been for their efforts, there would have been more lives lost.”
Carlos Odom, 35, had just made his usual visit to his cousin, who works at the Walmart on Tuesday, and said he was leaving when he heard more than a dozen shots.
“I just hear gunshots,” Odom said. “Pow. Pow. Pow. Pow. Pow.”
“When the cops run into the Walmart, you hear more gunshots,” Odom said. “After that, it stopped.”
Phil Cox, 70, said he was in the parking lot when he thought he heard a gunshot, and then saw a man who may have been the shooter run into the store.
“Everything went crazy at that point,” Cox said, expressing sympathy for employees. “It’s just hard to believe what happened here, but it seems like it’s happening everywhere.”
Champion said police recovered multiple weapons and a vehicle, and searched Abram’s apartment. He said Abram had purchased guns legally, but he didn’t describe them, and said Abram had no prior criminal record. He said investigators were also reviewing video recordings.
Investigators also believe Abram set a fire in the store. Champion said charges could be upgraded or more charges added after the investigation concludes.
“I feel extremely confident we’ll have a very prosecutable case,” Champion said.
“The entire Walmart family is heartbroken by the loss of two valued members of our team,” Walmart U.S. President and CEO Greg Foran said in a statement Tuesday.