Fired employee kills two at Walmart
Wounds one before being shot at Mississippi store
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 at a Walmart store in northern Mississippi, authorities said.
Southaven Police Chief Macon Moore said the man shot a Southaven police officer, who was protected by a bulletproof vest and suffered minor injuries. The chief said a second Southaven officer shot the suspect, who was then taken for surgery to a hospital in neighboring Memphis, Tennessee.
Desoto County District Attorney John Champion said Martez Tarrell Abram, 39, of Southaven is being charged with two counts of murder. Abram was recently fired from the Walmart after an incident where he showed a knife to a fellow employee, he said.
Both the people killed were Walmart employees, Moore said. Employees told The Associated Press that the first was shot in the parking lot and the second inside the store.
Travis Jones, an overnight stocker, said the suspect had gotten in trouble after pulling a knife on a customer.
“It wasn’t an accident,” said Jones, 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. “It was an ugly scene,” he said. Desoto County Coroner Joshua Pounders said Brown, 40, an Olive Branch resident, appears to have died from a gunshot wound.
Nicholas Gales said the other slain worker was his brother, Brandon Gales, 38, of Hernando. Jones called Brandon Gales his best friend and 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.
The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation will investigate the officer’s shooting of the suspect.
Moore said about 60 employees were working at the time. They were taken to the parking lot of an adjoining Chili’s restaurant and interviewed by officers. Some embraced, while one was placed in an ambulance. Others gathered to pray. Authorities finally brought employees back into the store after noon, spoke to them and released them to go home.