Frantic grocery store customers in Arkansas sought refuge in freezers and hurried to safety during a shooting incident that claimed the lives of three individuals and left ten others injured.
Katrina Doherty, who was shopping for dinner with her 18-year-old daughter and 4-year-old son, initially thought she heard something falling and then saw glass shattering. It soon became evident that shots were being fired. Outside, David Rodriguez heard popping sounds that he initially assumed were fireworks but later realized the grocery store's windows were broken as if shot open by gunfire.
In a state of panic, shoppers began to flee as gunshots were fired rapidly. A man opened fire at the Mad Butcher in Fordyce, resulting in the deaths of three individuals and wounding ten others. Law enforcement responded around 11:30 a.m., exchanging gunfire with the lone suspect, as per Arkansas State Police.
Cellphone video captured a man outside the store brandishing a long gun and discharging rounds in multiple directions. Due to the lack of escape routes, Doherty and others in the store hurriedly sought shelter in a freezer. Doherty's daughter and son, who were in a different aisle, reunited with their mother in the back of the store and followed two store workers into the freezer. Doherty reported hearing approximately nine or ten rounds before making it into the freezer.
"We ran in there really fast. We still heard gunshots keep going off," Doherty said. "It was like slow motion. My daughter was like 'Mama, pinch me, this can't be real.' And I was like, 'Baby, it's real.'"
From outside, Rodriguez heard sirens and witnessed the arrival of ambulances and police at the scene. Doherty couldn't hear what was happening outside, and when they tried to call 9-1-1, there was no service. The group remained inside, enduring the freezing cold in a panicked state, with some praying and others crying.
Their son started to cry, yet they managed to quiet him so as not to attract the attention of the shooter. "We were just sitting there and praying. I was in panic mode. My son about froze to death. We tried to get him quiet, but he was saying he wanted his daddy," Doherty said. "We were in there maybe 15 minutes. I was asking the Lord to protect over everybody. I was just praying. The other lady, she was praying. She was crying."
At one point, one of the workers opened the freezer door, revealing a deceased individual just outside it. The door was promptly shut until one of the store workers heard police outside, and they were then escorted out of the store.
Upon exiting the store, Doherty reunited with her 15-year-old twin daughters who were waiting outside in the car during the shooting and ducked down when they heard the gunshots.
The country has experienced a series of shootings in recent weeks, with 21 mass shootings recorded by the Gun Violence Archive since last Friday. These shootings occurred in various locations such as a Michigan splash pad, a Texas Juneteenth celebration, and a Massachusetts car meetup, among others.
To date, at least 234 mass shootings have taken place in the United States in 2024, according to the Gun Violence Archive. The archive defines a mass shooting as an incident in which four or more people are shot, excluding the shooter.
The aftermath of the shooting
Matthew Gill, the meat manager at the Mad Butcher, informed CNN that a man entered the store brandishing a shotgun and engaged in a shooting incident with police.
Two police officers were wounded during the gunfire. The suspected shooter, identified as 44-year-old Travis Eugene Posey, was also wounded and taken into custody.
Posey, a resident of New Edinburg, is expected to be charged with three counts of capital murder, with additional charges pending, according to an Arkansas State Police news release.
The injuries to the officers and the suspect are not considered life-threatening, according to Hagar. He noted that the "situation is secured … contained. There are no active threats to the community."
"The remaining civilian injuries range from non-life-threatening to extremely critical," he said.
Posey was "treated for non-life-threatening injuries after exchanging gunfire with law enforcement, released to ASP custody, and transported to the Ouachita County Detention Center," ASP said in the release. It is unclear if Posey has retained legal counsel at this point.
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders issued a statement, stating that she had been briefed on the "tragic shooting" in Fordyce and was in "constant contact" with state police at the scene. Fordyce, a small city in southeast Dallas County, had a population of just 3,396 in 2020.
Fordyce City Council Member Roderick Rogers informed CNN affiliate KATV that he was on the phone with someone in the store when the shooting took place. "Man, it was bad," Rogers said.
The council member spoke with survivors of the shooting who "are traumatized." "We are trying to get some counseling and everything set up at the moment," he added.
CNN’s Zoe Sottile and Justin Lear contributed to this report.
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After the harrowing experience, Doherty and her family sought reassurance when they couldn't reach 9-1-1. They hoped that the shooter wouldn't locate them within the freezer, as they were us alongside other scared individuals.
Once the situation was deemed safe, authorities led the terrified customers out of the store. They thanked their luck for surviving but couldn't help but worry about their community, knowing that such incidents were becoming increasingly common in the US.
