Two people were shot and killed at a shopping center in Bend, Oregon on Sunday, prompting law enforcement agencies to flood the area and enter a grocery store, where officers found a suspect dead from a gunshot wound, the authorities said.
The Bend Police Department responded to the Forum Shopping Center shortly after 7 p.m. after several people called 911 reporting shots fired, Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz said at a news conference Sunday night.
Gunman Found Dead After Killing 2
Investigators believe a shooter entered the shopping center from a nearby residential area and began firing in the parking lot with an AR-15-style rifle, Krantz said.
The shooter then entered a Safeway grocery store and shot one person inside the entrance, who was pronounced dead after being taken to a local hospital, Krantz said. Police believe the shooter continued firing through the store, shooting and killing another person, the chief said.
When officers began entering the store, they could hear gunshots, Krantz said, but later found the shooter dead in the store. Police found the AR-15-style rifle and a shotgun close to the shooter's body, Krantz said. The chief said no shots were fired by Bend police officers and, at this time, police believe the unidentified gunman acted alone.
Video footage on social media shows emergency responders in the parking lot of the shopping centre in the aftermath of the shooting.
Third Victim Injured, Undergoing Treatment at Hospital
Lisa Goodman with St. Charles Medical Center told CNN the hospital is treating a third victim from the shooting. That person is in good condition, Goodman said.
The hospital asked community members to avoid going to the medical center unless they are experiencing a medical emergency because the facility is in "active trauma response," according to a post on its Facebook page.
The shooting comes a little more than three months after a gunman armed with an assault-style weapon killed 10 people and wounded three others in an attack at a Tops supermarket in Buffalo, as previously reported.
