A shooter opened fire at a supermarket in Fordyce, Arkansas, killing three civilians and wounding ten others, including two police officers, according to Arkansas State Police.
This incident is part of a broader pattern of gun violence in the United States, the world’s most heavily armed society.
The suspect was also wounded in a shootout with police on Friday, Arkansas State Police Director Mike Hagar told reporters.
The shooting occurred at the Mad Butcher grocery store in Fordyce, a town of 3,200 people located about 112 kilometers south of Little Rock.
“Unfortunately, we can confirm that 11 innocent civilians were shot, and three of those are deceased. Two law enforcement officers were injured in the exchange of gunfire. The suspect was also shot and taken into custody,” Hagar said. He did not provide further details about the circumstances of the shooting or take questions from the press.
Hagar reported that the wounded police officers and the suspect are expected to survive, with civilian injuries ranging from non-life-threatening to extremely critical.
Videos posted on social media showed at least one person lying in the parking lot and captured multiple gunshots. Images from reporters on the scene showed numerous bullet holes in the grocery store’s window. Footage also depicted local and state agencies responding to the scene, with at least one medical helicopter landing nearby.
Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders addressed the incident on social media platform X, expressing gratitude to law enforcement and first responders for their quick actions. “My prayers are with the victims and all those impacted by this horrific incident,” she said.
This is the latest in a series of mass shootings at grocery stores. In 2022, a white supremacist killed ten Black people at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York. This followed a 2021 shooting at a Boulder, Colorado supermarket where ten people were killed.
According to a report from the Gun Violence Archive published on Friday, the number of mass shootings in 2024 has risen to 234, with current statistics showing 7,923 homicides and the tragic deaths of 109 children and 560 teens.
I am an experienced writer, analyst, and author. My exposure in English journalism spans more than 28 years. In the past, I have been working with daily The Muslim (Lahore Bureau), daily Business Recorder (Lahore/Islamabad Bureaus), Daily Times, Islamabad, daily The Nation (Lahore and Karachi). With daily The Nation, I have served as Resident Editor, Karachi. Since 2009, I have been working as a Freelance Writer/Editor for American organizations.
