Sheriff: 3 dead in gun store shooting in La.
After two people fatally shot, customers, employees or both fired on and killed suspect
METAIRIE, La. — A person went into a gun store and shooting range in a New Orleans suburb and fatally shot two people Saturday, causing customers and staff to open fire and kill the shooter, a sheriff said.
The shooting occurred at the Jefferson Gun Outlet in Metairie, a suburb of New Orleans, around 2:50 p.m., according to a release from the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office.
Sheriff Joseph Lopinto said the shooter initially hit two people inside, and then several other people — either employees or store customers — opened fire on the shooter, both inside and outside the building.
A man could be seen behind yellow police tape outside the building who was yelling, “Where is my son?”
Guns and ammunition are sold in the front of the outlet, which faces a main thoroughfare through Jefferson Parish. Customers who want to go to the shooting range generally use the side building’s entrance. Staff who work there often carry a sidearm.
Lopinto said two other people were also hit by gunfire and were hospitalized in stable condition. He said investigators had just begun trying to determine what happened.
“We’re trying to put it all together, piece it together,” the sheriff said.
None of the dead or wounded were immediately identified, and details remained sketchy.
Tyrone Russell and Wanetta Joseph were both in a conceal-and-carry course at the store when they heard what they both described as rapid firing.
They said the gunfire sounded much louder than the usual muffled shooting that they are used to hearing inside the shooting range.
“We heard the gunshots and the screaming,” said Russell. “When the police came, they escorted us out. I could see glass everywhere … It was just like a really scary scene.”