Heavy
Witnesses and news reporters shared images of the scene after a gunman opened fire inside Publix in Royal Palm Beach, Florida. The gunman was identified by law enforcement as Timothy J. Wall, 55, of Royal Palm Beach.
One of the first witnesses to report what he saw was a Twitter user, who said he was at the grocery store to buy water the morning of Thursday, June 10, 2021.
“Welp! I almost made it into publix to get water and BOOM! someone gets blasted in the store with a shotgun Hope eveyrone is alive. Glad I don’t live on Loxahatchee, Fl.” the person wrote on Twitter at 11:48 a.m. Eastern time, sharing photos of the scene.
Tragically, three people were killed, including a child, according to the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office. The shooter was also listed among the three dead. The statement also clarified the incident was “not an active shooter situation.”
Officials told Local 10 News the male was the gunman, and said the child would have turned 2 later this month. They said he shot both the woman and child before turning the gun on himself, the news station reported. The woman and child were grandmother and grandson, the news outlet reported.
Here’s what you need to know:
A Twitter User Shared Some of the First Photos From the Scene of the Publix Shooting
“Detectives are investigating a shooting that took place INSIDE Publix in RPB. Upon arrival deputies located three individuals deceased from gunshot wounds, one adult male, one adult female and one child. The shooter is one of the deceased. This was NOT an active shooter situation,” said a statement from the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office.
#BreakingNews There is a large police presence at the Publix in Royal Palm Beach.
Chanel 9 News reported that the Publix parking lot is blocked off with crime scene tape, and that multiple patrol cars from the sheriff’s office are on the scene.
Detectives are investigating a shooting that took place INSIDE Publix in RPB. Upon arrival deputies located three individuals deceased from gunshot wounds, one adult male, one adult female and one child. The shooter is one of the deceased. This was NOT an active shooter situation
“We’re trying to determine what led up to the shooting,” Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office Spokeswoman Teri Barbera told The Sun-Sentinel. “We responded to a shooting, we found three deceased — male, female, child. We believe that it’s possible they know each other. The gunman is deceased. What led up to this, again, to be determined by our detectives that are here on scene.”
The newspaper reported the shooting occurred at 1180 Royal Palm Beach Boulevard in The Crossroads at Royal Palm Beach plaza at about 11:30 a.m. Eastern time. The entire plaza was blocked by police, the article said.
Witnesses Described the Tragedy They Saw While Shopping for Groceries
This man, Juan Guardia, tells us he was inside of the #Publix when the shooting happened, and that employees started yelling for everyone to get out. @WPLGLocal10
Juan Guardia told WPLG he was in Publix when the shooting started, and that employees shouted for customers to flee. He told the news station he was near the deli when he heard gunshots, followed by someone shouting that there was a shooter.
Other witnesses told the Sun-Sentinel about the tragedy, saying they were running errands when their shopping trip turned deadly. Lynn Waterman told newspaper reporters she was checking out at the cash register when she heard the gunfire. She thought it was balloons popping, she told the newspaper. The cashier said there was a shooter, and she started running, she said, according to the article.
“Everybody ran out the store and I stood in the parking lot a while and I’m thinking to myself, ‘Why am I standing out here? He could come out and shoot us’,” Waterman, 61, told the newspaper.
The Twitter wrote an update to his original post to say that the person walked in wearing a trench coat, and the gun the person had was not a shotgun.
“Update: Nit a shotgun, this seems to have been a mass shoting. Mtiple people are assumed dead including to gunman who was said to had walked in with a dark trench coat on,” the person wrote on Twitter.
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