At least 2 killed, four hurt in Red Bluff (California) Walmart distribution center shooting

 

At least two are dead and four are hurt after a shooting at the Red Bluff Walmart distribution center, a hospital spokeswoman confirmed Saturday.

 

There also was a fire at the location, and the suspect appears to have rammed a vehicle into the building, dispatchers said.

 

Allison Hendrickson, a spokeswoman for Dignity Health North State, said four patients were in fair condition at St. Elizabeth Community Hospital in Red Bluff and two had died. She wasn't immediately sure whether there were other victims at another hospital.

 

Law enforcement officials at the scene have not yet confirmed any details of the incident, other than that the shooter was reported at 3:32 p.m.

 

Scott Thammakhanty, an employee at the facility's receiving center who unloads trucks, said he heard the shooter fire from what he judged to be a semi-automatic weapon.

 

"It went on and on — I don’t even know how many times he fired," Thammakhanty said. "I just know it was a lot."

 

Thammakhanty and others started running for their lives, and he saw people lying on the ground as he went, he said.

 

The shooter looked familiar to Thammakhanty, but he didn't know his identity.

 

Vince Krick was waiting outside because his wife and son work at the facility. They weren't hurt, but Krick was anxiously waiting to be reunited with them.

 

"It was real crazy, because, you know, you can’t do nothing," Krick said.

 

Krick was on the way to pick up his wife when he saw the flames, he said. His wife texted that she was OK, but told him not to come to the front entrance.

 

The shooting happened right when a new group of workers starts their shift, he said.

 

Krick's wife, a manager, was able to get some employees out the back of the building, he said.

 

Dispatchers reported at least one person had been shot, though the extent of injuries wasn't immediately clear. A man had also reported his leg being run over when the shooter rammed a vehicle into the facility.

 

A woman was reportedly bleeding after jumping over a barbed-wire fence to escape.

 

"We need to get these people out of here," a dispatcher said.

 

Dispatchers said they needed all units to respond to the facility on Highway 99 south of Red Bluff.

 

The suspect was described as being in a white vehicle that had wedged into the building and had what dispatchers believed was an assault-style weapon. The shooter was in the middle of the parking lot, dispatchers said.

 

Deputies said a fire had broken out by the time the suspect was detained and they couldn't get into the building because of the blaze.

 

The extent of any fatalities or injuries was not yet clear.

 

In an email, Walmart director of national media relations Scott Pope said the company is "aware of the situation" and working with law enforcement to investigate.

 

"We don’t have any additional information to share at this time," Pope wrote.

 

https://www.redding.com/story/news/2020/06/27/shooter-ar-type-weapon-reported-red-bluff-walmart-distribution-center/3273106001/