USA TODAY International Edition
2 shootings claim 7 lives
A weekend of deadly gun violence spilled into the workweek Monday with shootings in Fresno, California, and Duncan, Oklahoma. Four people died in Fresno after unknown attackers sneaked into a football watch party Sunday evening and shot 10 people, authorities said. Three people were killed Monday outside a Walmart in Duncan.
DUNCAN, Oklahoma – Three people were killed Monday in a shooting outside a Walmart that ended when a bystander pointed a gun at the shooter, police and a witness said.
“We can confirm a shooting in Walmart parking lot,” police said in a statement. “One female and one male were deceased in ( a) car and one male outside of the car. A handgun was found on scene.”
Duncan resident Aaron Helton said he was at the Walmart around 9: 45 a. m. when he heard nine shots and saw the gunman, weapon in hand. Another man walked up, put a pistol to the gunman’s head and told him to stop shooting, Helton said.
Helton said he saw the shooter was turning the gun on himself and looked away. Police Chief Danny Ford confirmed the gunman took his own life. All three died at the scene.
Tera Mathis, spokeswoman for the Duncan Police Department, said names, ages and other personal details regarding the victims were not available.
The police department, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol and the Stephens County Sheriff ’ s Office participated in the investigation, Mathis said.
At a news conference, Stephens County District Attorney Jason Hicks said there was never an active shooter inside the store, and he described the shooting as an isolated incident.
Schools in the city were briefly on lockdown. A portion of the shopping center parking lot was cordoned off.
Walmart spokesman Payton McCormick told USA TODAY that no staff was involved in the shooting or injured, and the store was not evacuated.
State Rep. Forrest Bennett tweeted support for victims and their families.
“The closer it is, the more it hurts. Duncan once again suffers from gun violence,” he said.
At the Ace Hardware store about a block south of the Walmart in Duncan, cashier Austyn Fenwick said the store was notified of the incident but carried on business as usual.
“We’re not on lockdown or anything, but we were told to be on the lookout for someone in black clothing,” Fenwick said in a phone interview.
Lynn Gregston, who owns Country Club Care nursing home across the street from the Walmart, said authorities told him the gunman shot himself after firing on two others.
Duncan is a city of about 25,000 people in Stephens County, about 80 miles south of Oklahoma City.
The shooting took place days after the reopening of a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, that had been the scene of a mass shooting Aug. 3. That attack left 22 people dead in the parking lot and inside the Cielo Vista Supercenter.
Duncan City Manager Kimberly Meek assured the public via Facebook that the threat was over.
“Law enforcement officers have secured the scene, and we do not believe there is an additional threat to the community,” Meek said.