A Walmart shooting in Arizona occurred when eight police officers, nine suspects, and a store employee got into a huge Walmart fight which ended in one death.
In a related report by the Inquisitr , a man created a Walmart meth lab in the public restroom because he did not want to risk a chemical explosion at his own home.
The Arizona Department of Public Safety says the Cottonwood Police Department received a call close to midnight about a Walmart fight. Multiple suspects allegedly shoved a female employee in the store bathroom and had started fighting.
When police officers arrived, the Walmart brawl spilled out onto the parking lot, and one suspect was shot and killed during the large 17-person fight. Witnesses say they heard screaming and saw people running around while firing guns. Another suspect was shot in the abdomen while the Walmart employee sustained a broken arm.
“We do believe that there was a struggle for an officer’s weapon, there is an ongoing investigation on that,” said DPS spokesman Bart Graves, according to AZ Central . “This is a very complex investigation, we are still sorting things out and there are a lot of witnesses to talk to, so we are in the early stages. We were asked by Cottonwood police to conduct a criminal investigation.”
During the Walmart fight, one police officer was shot in the leg and was flown to Flagstaff Medical Center for surgery. The Walmart shooting victim is 31-years-old and has been with the Cottonwood Police Department for 10 years. The veteran police officer is expected to make a full recovery.
A total of seven people were taken into custody. The condition of the suspect shot in the stomach is currently unknown. The Walmart shooting suspects have refused to release their real names to authorities, but it is believed the five adult males, a woman, and a female juvenile are all part of the same family.
“The suspects involved were all from the same family. We believe they are from Idaho because of the license plate on their vehicle,” DPS spokesman Graves said, according to FOX 8 .
At least four days before the Walmart shooting, witnesses say the family had camped out in the parking lot in a Suburban vehicle. The suspects had apparently tried panhandling by playing a guitar near the Walmart entrance. They also had a cardboard sign with a Bible verse written on it.
Since the Walmart shooting suspects’ identities are unknown, they have been “booked as John and Jane Does on suspicion of aggravated assault, attempted homicide, obstruction of justice and a separate assault charge related to the Walmart employee.”