RICHLAND (Washington State, US), Feb 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) — One person was killed and another was wounded in a shooting at a grocery store in US state of Washington, authorities said.
The shooting incident inside a Fred Meyer grocery store in the southeastern Washington city of Richland was reported at approximately 11:03 a.m. Monday, said the Richland Police Department in a statement posted on Facebook.
“One person has died and another is in the hospital with injuries. The suspect has been described as a middle aged white male,” the statement added.
Police said that officers are still actively searching for the suspect who is “believed to be armed and dangerous.” The suspect left the store and it is undetermined if he left on foot or in a vehicle.
Authorities posted a photo of the suspect on social media and urged local residents with information to contact police.
“If you see the suspect or feel you are in danger, please call 911,” said police in the statement.
Authorities also urged people to avoid the incident location. Schools in the Richland School District were temporary on lockdown at noon in response to police activity in the area, according to the school district’s website.
“We want to assure our community that we are taking every measure to locate the suspect,” Richland’s Interim Police Chief Brigit Clary said in a late-afternoon press briefing at the Richland Police Department. “We will not rest until he is in custody.”
When officers first arrived at 11:04 a.m., they started life-saving measures on the two men who had been shot inside. Police were unable to save one man, but officers carried the wounded Fred Meyer employee out of the store to waiting paramedics, said Clary.
The man who was killed inside the Richland Fred Meyer had a heated conversation with the alleged suspect just moments before he was shot, police say. Commander Chris Lee said investigators do not know what the “interaction” was about, or whether the two men even knew each other before multiple shots were fired. — NNN-AGENCIES
