Gun violence continues across the US
A gunman opened fire at a Walmart in Ohio Monday night, wounding four people before shooting himself, authorities said.
The suspect entered the Walmart in Beavercreek, Ohio, a town of about 46,000 in the Dayton metropolitan area, around 8:30 p.m. and began firing a gun, according to the Beavercreek Police Department. Four people were wounded and transported to area hospitals.
“The conditions of the victims right now is unknown,” Beavercreek Police Capt. Scott Molnar said at a news conference late Monday.
The shooter died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said. The suspect’s name, motive for the attack, and other details weren’t immediately released.
Police added that no shots were fired by responding officers. Earlier on social media, police said the store had been cleared and secured and there wasn’t any “active threat.”
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the FBI, and other local agencies are assisting Beavercreek police with the investigation.
“We’re heartbroken by what’s happened at our Beavercreek, Ohio store. This remains a developing situation, and we’re working closely with investigators on the scene,” Walmart said in a statement, WHIO-TV reported.
Part of Dayton’s metropolitan area and located just east of the city, Beavercreek has a population of around 46,000 people. It is the largest city in Greene County, Ohio.
A separate shooting late Thursday at another Walmart in Ohio left a 2-yearold boy injured. The child is recovering from minor injuries after police in south central Ohio say he fired a gun inside a Walmart, striking part of the building. This happened in Waverly, a city about 60 miles south of Columbus.
According to an account provided by the toddler’s mother, her son removed a 9mm Taurus from her purse, resulting in “the unintentional discharge of the weapon,” police wrote in a press release.
No other injuries were reported. The child’s mother, whose name was not released, was arrested and charged in Pike County Court with one count of endangering children, police said.
Virginia Walmart shooting nears one year anniversary
Wednesday will mark one year since a store manager opened fire before a staff meeting in a Walmart in Chesapeake, Virginia, killing six employees.
Police said the Chesapeake gunman was carrying multiple magazines and died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Officials identified those killed as Chesapeake residents Brian Pendleton, 38; Kellie Pyle, 52; Lorenzo Gamble, 43; and Randy Blevins, 70, along with Tyneka Johnson, 22, of nearby Portsmouth. The name of the sixth victim, a 16-year-old boy, was not released because of his age.
Monday’s shooting is the latest incident in a wave of gun violence across the United States.
According to the Gun Violence Archive, there have been over 38,000 firearm deaths so far this year and 609 mass shootings, which is defined by the archive as four victims shot, either injured or killed, not including the shooter.
The Dayton metropolitan area has also been a site for gun violence. In 2019, a 24-year-old man shot and killed nine people and injured 27 more in the Oregon District. The gunman was then shot and killed by police.
In 2014, a 22-year-old man was fatally shot by a police officer at the same Walmart where the shooting occurred in Beavercreek on Monday. He was holding a pellet gun that he had picked up in the store and police believed he was armed with a real gun.