FORREST CITY, Ark. – Two police officers were injured and a suspect killed Monday during an active shooter incident at a Walmart Supercenter in Forrest City, Arkansas, authorities say.
Arkansas state police said two officers with the Forrest City Police Department were injured during the shooting. "The prayers of the ASP are with the 2 Forrest City officers that were injured this morning in a shooting at Walmart," state police tweeted.
Forrest City Police confirmed the shooter was killed.
Forrest City dispatchers confirmed around 11:40 a.m. local time that the incident was over. The extent of the officers' injuries are unknown.
Janet Benson, a spokeswoman for Forrest City Medical Center, said one person was treated in the hospital's emergency department as a result of the shooting.
Regional One Hospital spokeswoamn Angie Golding confirmed one person had been brought to the hospital as a result of the shooting. Golding and Benson were not able to confim the coditions of the two individuals.
St. Francis County Coroner Miles Kimble said he was still at the scene around 12:15 p.m. but that he could not yet confirm any fatalities.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives confirmed on Twitter special agents were responding to the incident.
The Walmart Supercenter is less than 50 miles west of Memphis in eastern Arkansas.
Scott Pope, a Walmart spokesman, said the company was aware of the shooting and assisting police in the investigation.
Kimani McKnight, an employee at the nearby Dollar Tree store, said she did not see or hear anything that took place at the Walmart but that the Dollar Tree had been put on lockdown.
"I'm scared," said Kim Bery, an employee at an auto parts store across the street from the Walmart.
Bery said she could see a lot of police presence at the Walmart and employees appeared to have been evacuated into the parking lot.
Forrest City School District said it was aware of an incident nearby Central Elementary's campus.
"All students and staff are safe and administrators took all appropriate actions. We are praying for the officers injured in the incident and would like to thank the Forrest City Police Department for their rapid response to this emergency situation," the school district wrote in a Facebook post.
The incident comes just months after a shooting at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, in August left 22 people dead in a rampage during which the suspect is accused of targeting Mexicans. The alleged shooter faces federal charges, including hate crime charges.
In July, two men were killed in a shooting at a Mississippi Walmart, and a suspect described by police as a disgruntled former employee was charged with two counts of murder.
In store locations with high crime, Walmart has off-duty policemen who patrol parking lots. It also uses a wide variety of technology including towers that have surveillance cameras in its parking lots, spokesman Randy Hargrove said in August.
Walmart did not say what security measures were in place at the Forrest City location.
Contributing: Ryan Miller, USA TODAY, and the Associated Press. Miller reported from McLean, Va.
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