A 23-year-old nurse and a 63-year-old grandmother have been named as two of three victims who were fatally shot in an Arkansas grocery store.
Seven other shoppers were injured in the tragic shooting on Friday, where accused gunman Travis Posey, 44, allegedly opened fire before being hit in a police shoot-out.
Tributes have poured in for young mother Callie Weems and grandmother Shirley Kay Taylor, who were killed at the scene along with a third deceased victim yet to be named.
Posey, who owns a tree service company, was taken into custody with non-life-threatening injuries after being shot in a shoot-out with police, while terrified witnesses hid in freezers during the shocking episode.
Callie Weems, pictured with her 10-month-old daughter Ivy, was tragically killed in the mass shooting in Fordyce, Arkansas, where two others were killed and seven more were injured
Grandmother Shirley Kay Ivey, 63, was also killed in the senseless shooting, with a third unnamed man – who is reportedly related to Weems – also shot dead
Posey allegedly began the mass shooting at around 11:30am, as witnesses said he shot out the grocery store’s front windows before rapidly firing a number of bullets inside.
Cellphone footage captured Posey in the parking lot with a long gun, allegedly shooting into the Mad Butcher store and at police arriving on the scene.
A total of 10 people were shot, with authorities saying the motive for the massacre remains unclear.
Weems’ devastated mother, Helen Browning, said that she initially believed her daughter was safe, because she turned on her location tracker when she heard of the mass shooting and saw she was at the hospital.
‘I’m thinking, “She’s at work. She came in to help,”‘ Browning told Fox16.
But she said her fears were raised when she couldn’t get hold of her daughter, and said the tragic truth dawned on her when she raced to the scene with Callie’s stepfather, Bruce Grice.
‘My best friend was standing right there and I said, “Kristie, tell me my baby’s OK.” and she said, “I can’t,”‘ Browning said. ‘And that’s when I just broke.”
Travis Posey, 44, has been identified by law enforcement as the alleged gunman in the shooting. He was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries after being hit in a shoot-out with cops
A total of 10 people were shot, with authorities saying the motive for the massacre remains unclear
Callie Weems’ heartbroken mother revealed that she initially thought her daughter, who is a nurse, was safe because she saw she was at the hospital
Shirley’s tragic death was announced by her daughter
Helen lamented the loss of Callie, the mother of 10-month-old daughter Ivy, and revealed that she had known Posey since he was a child.
‘I just want to know why Joey Posey woke up this morning and decided he needed to go ruin families’ lives,’ she said.
The stricken mother revealed that her niece’s father was the third victim killed in the shooting, who has not been named publicly, and said his loss is a ‘double whammy to our family.’
Alongside the two family members shot dead, 63-year-old Shirley Kay Taylor was also killed in the senseless mass shooting.
Her daughter Angela Atchley revealed the heartbreaking news on Facebook, where she said her mother was a ‘great woman’ who ‘didn’t deserve this.’
Witness Katrina Doherty told CNN that she was shopping with her 18-year-old daughter and four-year-old son when bullets rang out across the store.
She fled into a freezer with other shoppers and staff at the back of the building, as her family ‘still heard gunshots going off.’
‘It was like slow motion my daughter was like “Mama, pinch me this can’t be real”, and I was like, “Baby, its real.”‘
Doherty said they remained trapped inside the freezer while the shooter rampaged outside the store, and were unable to call 911 with no cell service inside.
She said the group in the freezer were all in ‘panic mode’, and when her son began crying, they ‘finally got him calmed down because I didn’t want the shooter to hear.’
‘We were just sitting there and praying. I was in panic mode. My son about froze to death,’ she said.
Callie’s heartbroken mother said after her death: ‘I just want to know why Joey Posey woke up this morning and decided he needed to go ruin families’ lives’
Damage can be seen to a front window law enforcement officers work the scene on Friday
‘We tried to get him quiet, but he was saying he wanted his daddy. It felt like we were in there forever.
‘I was asking the Lord to protect over everybody. I was just praying. The other lady, she was praying. She was crying.’
The group only emerged once police cautioned them it was safe, following a shoot-out with the gunman that left two officers wounded.
Arkansas State Police said Posey is in a nearby hospital but is expected to be charged with three counts of capital murder, with additional charges also likely.
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