Three people were killed early Tuesday in a «random» shooting at a convenience store in Yakima, Washington, and police are searching for a suspect.
The shooting, which is considered random, occurred around 3:30 a.m. at a Circle K, Yakima Police Chief Matt Murray said during a news summary.
“There was no apparent conflict between the parties. The man just walked in and started shooting,” the chief said. “We have security videos in the store and we are collecting other videos. There were also eyewitnesses who have given us information.”
Police identified the suspect as 21-year-old Jarid Haddock of Yakima County and said he is «armed and dangerous.»
Casey Schilperoort, a spokeswoman for the Yakima County sheriff’s office, said Tuesday that authorities located a residence where they believe Haddock is staying. A Yakima police SWAT unit is on the scene, Schilperoort said around 10:30 am PT.
Schilperoort was not aware of an arrest. No one from Yakima police could immediately be reached for comment.
Murray said the suspect, who did not wear a disguise, first tried to enter a convenience store where the doors were locked and then entered Circle K where two customers were and began shooting. The suspect also shot someone outside the convenience store, Murray said.
The gunman then crossed the street to return to the first gas station and opened fire on a vehicle that police initially thought he was stealing but now believe is the suspect’s vehicle. There was one person in the vehicle.
Murray did not know if that person was hit by gunfire.
Police later said there may not have been a fourth victim of the shooting. They attributed the discrepancy to a «rapidly evolving situation.»
The suspect was last seen driving a gray or silver Chrysler 200 eastbound on State Route 24 toward Moxee, Murray said.
“This is a dangerous person. And it’s random, so there’s a danger to the community,» Murray said. “We don’t have a reason. We do not know why.
The country has been hit by a wave of armed violence. On Saturday night, a gunman fatally shot 11 people and injured at least nine more in Monterey Park, California.
Ten hours later, at least 12 people were injured after gunshots erupted at a Louisiana nightclub, authorities said, calling it a «targeted attack.»
Two students were fatally shot Monday afternoon at a charter school in Des Moines, Iowa.
In Northern California on Monday, at least seven people were killed and one person seriously injured in a shooting in Half Moon Bay, a coastal city of about 11,000 about 30 miles south of San Francisco.
And one person was killed and seven others injured in a shooting Monday night in Oakland, California.
The United States has had at least 39 mass shootings in the first 24 days of 2023, according to the gun violence filea nonprofit organization that defines a mass shooting as a single incident in which at least four people, other than the shooter, are shot.