Police shot and killed a person they say was driving a possible stolen car in the parking lot of a Walmart store in El Paso, Texas.
According to the El Paso Police Department, “Two officers of the EPPD were out in a Walmart parking lot at 12236 Montana. Officers received information of a possible stolen vehicle. The officers approached the vehicle a made contact with a driver. The driver attempted to flee and officers were dragged.”
Police also wrote, “Officer involved shooting occurred outside of a parking lot located at 12236 Montana shoppers at the Walmart are being escorted out of the store. If you have family that was in the Walmart please pick them up at the LOWES parking lot.” The shooting occurred on Wednesday evening, October 23, 2019.
The identities of the driver and officers were not released. The Walmart is not the same one where a man gunned down 22 people in a horrific mass shooting in August; however, it’s only about 20 minutes away. “Note to self… stay away from Walmarts in El Paso,” wrote one man on Twitter.
Here’s what yo u need to know:
Walmart Customers Were Kept Inside the Store After the Shooting Occurred
BREAKING: @EPPOLICE say an officer shot at a man fleeing the scene after he drove a suspected stolen car into an East #ElPaso Walmart. Police say the man is dead and the 2 officers involved have been taken to the hospital. @KFOX14 @CBS4Local
Terrified Walmart customers were kept inside the store for their own safety in the shooting’s aftermath. Eventually, they were allowed out of the store but couldn’t initially take their vehicles.
“One officer discharged his weapon striking the driver of the fleeing vehicle. The driver died at the scene. Both officers were taken to a local hospital to treat their injuries. Walmart customers were kept in the store at the time of the shooting,” El Paso police wrote.
El Paso police are giving a press conference giving updates on the officer-involved shooting at the Walmart in far east El Paso. STORY: t.co/INkJQmf7K0 t.co/feHHEegpo0
“Scene will remain closed until late today. We will announce when customers of the Walmart can return to retrieve their vehicles.” Police have not released further details on the Walmart shooting. According to police, the officers were part of an Auto Theft Task Force and “were looking for stolen vehicles,” CBS4 reported.
Another shooting at an El Paso Walmart. This one on the far east side of town on Montana. PIO said it was an officer involved shooting. He would not give any more information. He will brief again later today.
El Paso is still reeling from a mass shooting at a Walmart in that community, which occurred in August. Patrick Crusius was identified as the suspect in the El Paso, Texas, Walmart shooting that left 22 dead on August 3, 2019. Crusius, 21, is in jail facing capital murder charges. Unlike that tragedy, the October shooting was police-involved and does not appear to have involved an active shooter type situation.
Both officers will be placed on administrative leave while the shooting is investigated.