RED BLUFF, Calif. — Two people were left dead and at least four people were in fair condition at a hospital Saturday after a man drove into a distribution centre and started shooting at people.
The two deceased people and the four injured ones were treated at St. Elizabeth Community Hospital in Red Bluff, spokeswoman Allison Hendrickson told The Associated Press. She declined to provide more details.
A Red Bluff Police Department statement says officers were called for an active shooter at the Walmart distribution centre around 3:30 p.m.
“After arriving, a male adult shot at one or more of the officers multiple times,” the statement said.
“One Red Bluff Police Officer and one Sergeant used their duty rifles and shot at the suspect, ultimately stopping the threat.”
The police statement says no officers were injured and the suspect’s condition is “unknown” at this time.
A photo taken at the scene shows a vehicle that appeared to have been driven into the building. The suspect was described as being in a vehicle that had wedged into the building, the Sacramento Bee reported.
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The suspect had been shot in the chest by about 3:45 p.m., according to dispatchers cited in the newspaper.
Scott Thammakhanty, an employee at the facility’s receiving centre, told the Record-Searchlight he heard the shooter fire from 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.
Thammakhanty told the newspaper that he didn’t know his identity.
Walmart spokesman Scott Pope told the Record-Searchlight that the company is “aware of the situation” and working with law enforcement.
“We don’t have any additional information to share at this time,” Pope said.
Red Bluff is a city of about 14,000 people about 131 miles (210 kilometres) north of Sacramento, California.
— With a file by Global News staff
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