Man Walks Into Gun Store and Starts Shooting

A shooting incident at a Louisiana gun store and shooting range on Saturday left three people dead, including the “initial shooter,” the BBC reports. Two other people were injured in the shootout, which occurred around 2:50pm at the Jefferson Gun Outlet in the New Orleans suburb of Metairie, per the AP. "We're trying to put it all together, piece it together,” Jefferson Parish Sheriff Joseph Lopinto told reporters during a briefing. The gunman entered the store with a loaded, unholstered gun, WDSU reports. He reportedly got into an argument with an employee, who told the man that he should not have a loaded gun until he is inside the range. Shots were fired during the argument. “It appears that several individuals ended up engaging that original suspect,” Lopinto said.

“From what I understand I have multiple shooters here at this location that were either customers, employees, or individuals here at the location itself,” he said. People who were attending a conceal-and-carry course at the store during the incident told the AP that the gunfire was much louder than the muffled shooting that comes from the shooting range. “It got extremely loud, like a bomb almost,” Wanetta Joseph said, adding that she and other students hid beneath a table. Tyrone Russell described a scene of shattered glass and bullet casing scattered around the store. He said he saw someone “laid out” in the parking lot near his car, which had been hit by gunfire. (More shooting stories.)