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Police Chief: 3 people Killed in Oklahoma Walmart Shooting

4 years 4 months 1 week ago Monday, November 18 2019 Nov 18, 2019 November 18, 2019 10:49 AM November 18, 2019 in News - AP National
Law enforcement work the scene where two men and a woman were fatally shot Monday, Nov. 18, 2019, outside a Walmart store in Duncan, Okla. Two victims were shot inside a car and the third was in the parking lot outside the store in Duncan, Police Chief Danny Ford said. (AP Photo/Sean Murphy)

By SEAN MURPHY
Associated Press

DUNCAN, Oklahoma (AP) - Two men and a woman were fatally shot Monday morning outside a Walmart store in southwestern Oklahoma, and the shooter is among the dead, authorities said.

Two victims were shot inside a car and the third was killed in the parking lot just before 10 a.m. outside the store in Duncan, Police Chief Danny Ford said.

Authorities did not immediately describe a motivation for the shooting. Stephens County District Attorney Jason Hicks authorities said during a news conference Monday afternoon that there was never an active shooter inside the store and he described the shooting as an isolated incident. He did not further explain.

Two bodies covered with sheets were visible in the parking lot Monday afternoon. One body was in the driver’s seat of a red, two-door car. The other body was lying on the ground next to the vehicle.

Bullet holes were visible in the car’s windshield. Police said in a Facebook post that a handgun was found at the scene. At the news conference, Ford described the gun as semi-automatic but said he had no further details. He said the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation was still processing the scene.

He said he believed nine shots were fired.

Authorities have not released the identities of those killed but did confirm the shooter was among the dead. Ford said all three knew each other but declined to describe their relationships or other identifying information pending notification of immediate family.

Police have also interviewed witnesses to the shooting, Ford said.

Aaron Helton, of Duncan, said he was parking outside the Walmart where he planned to buy groceries when he heard about nine gunshots.

“I arrived and there were three bodies,” Helton said.

Walmart spokeswoman LeMia Jenkins said in an email that no staff members were involved in the shooting and the store was not evacuated. Ford told The Associated Press that based on the social media posts of the woman who was killed, he believed she may have been a Walmart employee at some time.

Duncan is about 80 miles (130 kilometers) south of Oklahoma City. The Walmart is in a commercial center that includes a sporting goods store and a dollar store along U.S. Highway 81, the main road that passes through Duncan heading south toward Texas. 

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Associated Press reporter Cedar Attanasio in El Paso, Texas, contributed to this report.

Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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