Three people were killed Wednesday evening when a gunman opened fire at a Walmart in a shopping center in Thornton, Colorado, about eleven miles northeast of Denver:
Shooting just occurred at Walmart, 9900 Grant St, multiple parties down. Please stay away from the area. pic.twitter.com/MdffbTPLKl
— Thornton Police Dept (@ThorntonPolice) November 2, 2017
The three victims, all Latino, were shot seemingly at random, according to reports:
Then a “pop.” Customers around the store were confused. Was that a toy gun? Fireworks? Did a pallet just drop? But then another “pop” rang out. Gunshots.
Inside the Thornton Walmart at 9901 Grant St., people flooded toward exits in confusion, dropped to the floor for safety and bunkered in store offices as a gunman... nonchalantly walked into the store at 6:10 p.m., shooting at random.
Witnesses told reporters that they had seen someone getting arrested at the scene:
Aaron Stephens, 44, was in the self-checkout line at Walmart when he heard a single shot fired then more bursts of gunfire. He said customers started screaming and running for the exits.
“I was scared,” Stephens said. “I feared for my life.”
Stephens, who has lived in Thornton for 20 years, said he saw someone being taken into custody after the shooting.
The man taken into custody was 47-year-old Scott Ostrem. He could face the death penalty if convicted.