Arkansas State Police on Friday identified the man they say opened fire at a Fordyce grocery store, killing three people and wounding 11 more, including two police officers.
Travis Eugene Posey, 44, will be charged with three counts of capital murder, the agency said. More charges are pending.
Posey was wounded in an exchange of gunfire with law enforcement at the Mad Butcher grocery store at about 11:30 a.m. on Friday, as CrimeOnline reported.
Meat cutter Matt Gill said the gunman “came in and started shooting.”
“We made it out the back door, he said. “I had to get out there, I have a wife and kids at home.”
State police said two law enforcement officers were among the wounded. They, like the gunman, suffered minor injuries. Posey was taken to the Ouachita County Detention Center after treatment.
At least one person was in extremely critical condition after the shooting.
Police have not provided any indication of what led to the shooting.
The Arkansas Advocate said it was the second mass shooting in the state this month and the sixth this year.
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders tweeted that her “prayers were with the victims,” but Anna Morshedi of Greater Little Rock Moms Demand Action and Insherah Qazi, a member of the Students Demand Action National Organizing Board from Arkansas, said that wasn’t enough.
“Our hearts are with those who were wounded and their families after today’s shooting — where yet another trip to the grocery store ended in tragedy because of America’s gun violence crisis,” Morshedi said. “We’re fed up with having to live in fear every day because our lawmakers refuse to put our safety first.”
“It’s heartbreaking to see such senseless violence continue to cycle throughout our communities. But this is what happens when our state lacks basic gun safety laws,” Qazi said. “Arkansas has the weakest gun laws in the country and our gun violence rates show for it. Going to the grocery store shouldn’t be a death sentence. The answer to solving this crisis is clear, it’s just a matter of whether lawmakers have the courage to act.”
Arkansas has the weakest gun laws in the country and has the 9th highest rate of gun deaths, according to Everytown for Gun Safety, the Advocate reported. Most recently, lawmakers there repealed a law requiring a permit to carry a concealed weapon and passed a law allowing people from other states to carry their firearms concealed if they have an out of state license to do so. Arkansans also don’t need a license to conceal carry.
No one other than police and the gunman opened fire at the grocery store.
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[Featured image: Travis Eugene Posey/Ouachita County Sheriff’s Office]
