Multiple people were shot on Wednesday inside a Walmart store in a Denver suburb, local police said. Police in Thornton, Colorado, did not release any information on the number of victims and it was not clear if an assailant had been taken into custody, taken his own life or been slain by officers.
“We’ve got multiple parties down, we’re still trying to ascertain what their conditions are,” Officer Victor Avila of the Thornton Police Department told Reuters.
"Like six pops, everyone got down, everyone started screaming."
— Chris Stewart (@CStewartWPTV) November 2, 2017
Employee on shooting inside #Walmart in #Thornton #Colorado (per @KDVR) pic.twitter.com/ZSPNHPT9D5
About an hour after the initial alert the Thornton Police Department said on Twitter that the gunfire had ended at the store, which was surrounded by police and fire crews.
“At this time this is NOT an active shooter. Active crime scene. We will update as info becomes available,” the police department said in a tweet. Thornton is city of about 120,000 people roughly 16 km northeast of Denver.
Witness says this is near #Thornton, #Colorado #Walmart. Police say "multiple parties" are down after a shooting. pic.twitter.com/svWmxHUnp4
— Kevin W. (@kwilli1046) November 2, 2017
Officers at the scene
Avila said that police were called to the store at about 6:30 p.m. Mountain time (8:30 p.m. ET) and that the gunshots had ceased by the time the first officers arrived at the scene.
An hour after the incident, the situation, the nature of the incident or status of the threat remained unclear, he said.
Local NBC affiliate 9NEWS reported that a woman whose son was in Walmart had told her that he had heard about 30 gunshots and was still inside.
A video posted on Twitter showed the Walmart, which is situated in a large complex of big-box stores and other retail outlets adjacent to US Interstate 25, apparently empty except for police officers with guns drawn.
-
San Bernardino massacre yields second immigration fraud conviction
The Russian-born wife of the California man accused of supplying guns used by another couple who killed 14 people in San Bernardino pleaded guilty World News -
Fake gun, real crime: US police notice uptick in replicas
Whether they shoot BBs, pellets, paintballs or nothing at all, imitation guns can be indistinguishable from the real thing Variety -
British man expected to plead guilty in Trump attack case
A British man accused of trying to grab a police officer’s gun to shoot Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Las Vegas could face about two years in a US prison World News -
Canada to US tourists: Please leave your guns at home
Switchblades, nunchucks, crossbows, blowguns and brass knuckles are also banned in Canada Variety