On Wednesday night, an unidentified gunman “nonchalantly walked in” to a Walmart in the Denver suburb of Thornton, Colorado and opened fire on a group of people near a cash register. According to the New York Times, police then recounted how the suspect — who is described as a “middle-aged white man in a black jacket” per security footage recovered from the scene — promptly walked out of the Walmart and fled the scene in a red Mitsubishi Mirage. CNN reports the shooter killed three people — two men and a woman — though whether or not anyone else was injured isn’t clear.
“It’s random as of right now,” Thornton Police Department spokesperson Victor Avila told the press late Wednesday. “The person came in and just shot toward a group.” Authorities received the first reports of gunfire at around 6:10 p.m. local time, and the Walmart parking lot was subsequently flooded with police activity. “This is a very heinous act,” Avila added during the press conference. “It was certainly a terrible act.” Witnesses who spoke with the Times and CNN recalled hearing “six or seven gunshots” just before “customers began screaming” and stampeding for the exits.
We’re told police are reviewing surveillance video as they attempt to get description of shooter. Eyewitness tells loved one 11 shots fired pic.twitter.com/V18byBuTVG
— Michael Konopasek (@MikeKonopasek) November 2, 2017
Thornton Police released an image of the suspect taken from security camera footage inside of the Walmart, as well as two shots of his escape vehicle.
Walmart shooting incident, person and vehicle of interest, remain anonymous, call Crime Stoppers 720-913-7867 pic.twitter.com/PFNbEALpbG
— Thornton Police Dept (@ThorntonPolice) November 2, 2017
UPDATE — 6:24am local time: Thornton Police have identified the suspect as 47-year-old Scott Ostrem, who is still on the loose.
Thornton police say suspect in #Walmart shooting is 47 yr old Scott Ostrem. License plate Co. 882TQB Updates as we get them #9news
— Gary Shapiro (@GShapiro9News) November 2, 2017
UPDATE — 8:20am local time: Thornton Police arrested Scott Ostrem roughly 14 hours after he walked into a Walmart in a Denver suburb and gunned down three people. Aside from announcing the arrest, however, spokesperson Victor Avila offered no other details regarding the suspect or the investigation into Wednesday’s deadly shooting.
As this is a developing story, we will update this post whenever new information becomes available.
(Via New York Times and CNN)