Walmart Shootout Results in Gunman Dead and Officer Injured

By: Kealan Oliver
Topics: Daily Blotter

Walmart

(Credit: CBS KTVT)

COMMERCE, Texas (CBS/AP) Police say suspected gunman, 29-year-old Artenio Rodriguez, was killed and an off-duty officer injured in a shootout outside a Wal-Mart in Commerce, 65 miles north of Dallas, Sunday.

Commerce spokeswoman Marty Cunningham says the incident began Sunday when police received a call of shots being fired from a car in the nearby town of Greenville, about 50 miles northeast of Dallas.

Cunningham says the suspect exchanged gunfire with Commerce police just outside the city limits before driving to the Wal-Mart.

Cunningham says the suspect entered the store carrying "a long gun and a pistol." She says an off-duty officer from another agency followed the suspect out of the store, where the suspect was killed. The officer was taken to a hospital with unknown injuries.

An off-duty Delta County sheriff's deputy, Paul Robertson, was shopping at the store with his wife and baby, said CBS affiliate KTVT. He followed the suspect out of the store, where the suspect was eventually killed during a shootout.

In a press conference, Cunningham said Robertson stopped the gunman because he happened to be in the right place at the right time, said KTVT. "If he had not been there and tried to detain the suspect, this could have been a lot worse," Cunningham said. "We could have had a lot of people hurt."

Robertson was taken by air to East Texas Medical Center. Sunday night he was reported as stable and resting, according to KTVT.

Officials are still trying to determine his motives for the shooting.

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