FAIRFIELD TOWNSHIP, Ohio — One person was fatally shot and another was critically wounded on Thursday after a gunman opened fire at a Cincinnati-area Walmart, authorities said.
The shooting occurred at a Walmart in Fairfield Township, located in Butler County north of Cincinnati, WCPO-TV reported.
During a news conference Thursday night, Fairfield Township police Capt. Doug Lanier said dispatchers received a call about a shooting at 7:57 p.m. EDT.
Lanier said the suspect, who was wearing a mask, dark clothing and a red shirt, fled from the store and was being sought by authorities.
Lanier said a Walmart employee confronted the suspect, who was allegedly shoplifting. Another Walmart employee told WCPO that one of the people shot worked as a greeter. A customer who intervened and was shot was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the television station.
Lanier did not confirm whether the person killed was a customer or an employee.
Hamilton police officers located the vehicle the suspect had been driving, but he was not in the car, Lanier said. A passenger in the vehicle was detained by police for questioning, Lanier told reporters.
“I didn’t really see it all clearly. I know it was a worker who got shot in the stomach area,” Dawson Irwin, who was a witness, told WLWT-TV. “I ran back to my car. It was like bizarre because the (Uvalde) Texas thing just happened, talking about that. And then this happened here. It’s bizarre. It’s crazy to think about.”
“It’s a very tragic incident,” Lanier told reporters. “I can’t even begin to fathom or speak for the people who were working here or shopping here when this occurred.
“We can all appreciate a good Samaritan who is wanting to jump in and help, (but) there’s so many times when someone is getting hurt. For property, it’s just not worth it. Just not worth it.”