Oklahoma Walmart Shooting: 3 Dead, Including The Suspect

DUNCAN, OKLAHOMA — A gunman killed two people outside a Walmart store Monday in Duncan, Oklahoma, before fatally shooting himself, officials said.

Duncan Police Chief Danny Ford said a woman and a man were fatally shot in the parking lot of the store. The suspected shooter, who was outside the car, then turned the gun to himself, police said.

A handgun was found at the scene, according to a Facebook post from the Duncan Police Department.

The local police department, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol and the Stephens County Sheriff's Office were all participating in the investigation, Tera Mathis, spokeswoman for the Duncan Police Department said.

Local law enforcement were interviewing witnesses, as investigators worked to find a motive for the action.

The suspect never entered the store and nobody else was injured.

Police received calls before 10 a.m. indicating an active shooter at the Walmart store in Duncan, Oklahoma, according to The Duncan Banner.

"We are aware of reports of a shooting at Wal-Mart," the Duncan Police Department wrote on Facebook. "We are gathering information and will provide an update as soon as one is available."

Schools in Duncan were temporarily on lock down, according to a statement by Duncan Public Schools.

The incident took place just days after the reopening of a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, that had been the scene of a mass shooting Aug. 3.

Oklahoma State Rep. Forrest Bennett tweeted his support for victims and their families.

The closer it is, the more it hurts. Duncan once again suffers from gun violence. I’ll be thinking of the victims & their families and, as we learn more about the motivation of the shooter, looking for ways to prevent this from happening again. https://t.co/PXEBf1y67V
— Rep. Forrest Bennett (@ForrestBennett) November 18, 2019

Walmart initially faced backlash from the public for not immediately pulling weapons from stores following the shooting, but then the national retailer announced on Sept. 3 it would discontinue all sales of handgun ammunition and sales of short-barrel rifle ammunition.

Walmart also asked customers to no longer openly carry firearms in stores, in states where "open carry" is allowed, unless they are law enforcement officers.

The Duncan shooting follows closely behind multiple others that took place in California last week, including a Sunday evening backyard shooting in Fresno, California, that left at least four dead and many others injured.

Duncan is a city of about 25,000 people in the Stephens County, about 80 miles south of Oklahoma City.

This is a developing story.