Five people were shot and three others, including two police officers were suffered other injuries, after an “active shooter” incident at a Walmart store in Cheltenham, Pennsylvania.According to WPVI-TV, police responded to a report of shots fired at the store in a strip mall on Cheltenham Avenue near Easton Road about 6 p.m.
Police told NBC Philadelphia that the incident began with an altercation at the checkout counter at the Walmart. A male suspect pulled a gun from the waistband of a woman he was with and opened fire, police told the news station. Two women and a man were shot in their legs and are in stable condition. Another woman suffered an unspecified gunshot wound and a fifth person was grazed. A pregnant woman was also taken to the hospital after falling during the chaos, police said.
The gunman then fled from the scene with the woman and was spotted by a police officer after crossing into neighboring Philadelphia. After crashing into a police vehicle, the woman was taken into custody, but the male suspect began fighting with police, according to NBC Philadelphia. Two officers suffered minor injuries while arresting him, police said. He was taken to the hospital and appeared to be intoxicated or high on drugs, according to police. The woman was also hospitalized, but it is not clear how she was injured. Police have not identified either of the suspects or what charges they are facing.
Police said the suspect threw his gun out of the car and it was recovered by officers.
Photos from the scene showed a massive police response.
SWAT teams were at the scene and searched the building. Cheltenham is a township of about 37,000 residents located in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, about 15 miles outside of Philadelphia. Police departments from several nearby municipalities responded to the Walmart after the shots fired report.