3 Dead In Walmart Shooting, Gunman At Large
THORNTON, Colo. (CBS4) - Thornton police say two men and a woman have been confirmed dead after a shooting at the Walmart on Grant Street south of 102nd Avenue. The gunman remained on the loose five hours after the shooting.
Police released a surveillance image along with a description of the gunman and the suspect vehicle.
Witnesses told police that an adult male casually walked into the store and randomly started shooting at a group of people.
The gunman then got away from the store in a red Mitsubishi 4-door hatchback.
Walmart shooting incident, person and vehicle of interest, remain anonymous, call Crime Stoppers 720-913-7867 pic.twitter.com/PFNbEALpbG
— Thornton Police Dept (@ThorntonPolice) November 2, 2017
The suspect was described as a white male wearing a black vest with a maroon shirt and blue jeans.
Police initially tweeted about the shooting with multiple injuries just before 6:30 p.m. Wednesday. Officers rushed to the Walmart at 6:10 p.m. on reports of a shooting.
Shooting just occurred at Walmart, 9900 Grant St, multiple parties down. Please stay away from the area. pic.twitter.com/MdffbTPLKl
— Thornton Police Dept (@ThorntonPolice) November 2, 2017
The shooting happened at the Walmart at 9900 Grant Street. Officers said when they arrived, they found two adult males and one adult female in the area of the southern door entrance. The males with gunshot wounds died at the scene. The female was rushed to the hospital where she died a short time later.
Police closed the roads surrounding the store and asked the public to avoid the area for several hours after the shooting.
Dozens of police cars and emergency vehicles converged at the store and in the surrounding neighborhoods.
Witnesses inside the store were visibly shaken up after the shooting.
"I immediately froze because I didn't know what to think or what was going on. Then I heard two more shots and I hit the ground," said witness Aaron Stephens.
CBS4's Dominic Garcia was at the scene where witnesses described what happened.
Guadalupe Perez and her son Erick were in the #WalMart when the shots started. Thought it was balloons at first. @CBSDenver pic.twitter.com/qOIM1ZNIby
— Dominic Garcia (@CBS4Dom) November 2, 2017
"We were renting movies and we just heard this popping noise. The Walmart girl said, 'The balloons are popping.' And I turn around and I just see all the people walking, falling down because they were really scared," said witness Guadalupe Perez. "I just told them 'What's going on?' and they were like 'They're shooting! They're shooting!'"
Aurora SWAT also responded to the scene along with ATF crews.
Some 48 people at the Walmart were transported by buses to the Thornton Police Department headquarters where they were reunited with family members.
Anyone with information regarding the shooting or recognizes the suspect in the picture is asked to contact Crime Stoppers at 720-913-STOP (7867). You can text to CRIMES (274637) then title DMCS and enter your message or send an e-mail to metro-denvercrimestoppers.com. If the information you provide leads to the arrest and charging of a wanted individual, you can receive a cash reward up to $2,000.