A 23-year-old nurse and a 63-year-old grandmother have been named as two of the three victims fatally shot at an Arkansas supermarket.
Seven other shoppers were injured in Friday’s tragic shooting, in which accused gunman Travis Posey, 44, reportedly opened fire before being hit during a police shooting spree.
Tributes have been paid to young mother Callie Weems and grandmother Shirley Kay Taylor, who were killed at the scene, along with a third deceased victim who has yet to be named.
Posey, who owns a tree maintenance company, was taken into custody with non-life-threatening injuries after being shot during a shootout with police, while terrified witnesses hid in freezers during the shocking episode.
Callie Weems, pictured with her 10-month-old daughter Ivy, was tragically killed in the mass shooting in Fordyce, Arkansas, where two others were killed and seven others were injured.
Grandmother Shirley Kay Ivey, 63, was also killed in the senseless shooting, while a third unnamed man – said to be related to Weems – was also shot dead
Posey reportedly began the mass shooting around 11:30 a.m., as witnesses said he shot the front windows of the supermarket before quickly firing several rounds inside.
Cell phone footage captured Posey in the parking lot with a long gun, allegedly shooting into the Mad Butcher store and at police who arrived on the scene.
A total of ten people were shot, with authorities saying the motive for the massacre remains unclear.
Weems’ devastated mother, Helen Browning, said she initially believed her daughter was safe because she turned on her location tracker when she heard about the mass shooting and saw she was in hospital.
“I’m thinking, ‘She’s at work.’ She came to help,'” Browning said Fox16.
But she said her fears arose when she couldn’t get a hold of her daughter, and said the tragic truth dawned on her when she rushed to the scene with Callie’s stepfather, Bruce Grice.
“My best friend was standing there and I said, ‘Kristie, tell me my baby is okay.’ and she said, ‘I can’t do it,'” Browning said. “And then I just broke.”
Travis Posey, 44, has been identified by police as the alleged shooter in the shooting. He was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries after being hit during a shootout with police
A total of ten people were shot, with authorities saying the motive for the massacre remains unclear
Callie Weems’ heartbroken mother revealed she initially thought her daughter, who is a nurse, was safe because she saw she was in hospital
Shirley’s tragic death was announced by her daughter
Helen lamented the loss of Callie, mother of ten-month-old daughter Ivy, and revealed that she had known Posey since he was a child.
“I just want to know why Joey Posey woke up this morning and decided he had to go and ruin the lives of families,” she said.
The stricken mother revealed that her niece’s father was the third victim killed in the shooting and has not been publicly named, saying his loss is a “double blow to our family.”
In addition to the two family members shot dead, 63-year-old Shirley Kay Taylor was also killed in the senseless mass shooting.
Her daughter Angela Atchley revealed the heartbreaking news on Facebook, where she said her mother was an “amazing woman” who “didn’t deserve this.”
Witness Katrina Doherty told it CNN that she was shopping with her 18-year-old daughter and four-year-old son when bullets rang through the store.
She and other shoppers and staff fled into a freezer at the back of the building as her family “continued to hear gunshots ringing out.”
“It was like in slow motion, my daughter said, ‘Mommy, pinch me, this can’t be real,’ and I thought, ‘Honey, it’s real.’
Doherty said they were trapped in the freezer while the gunman went on a rampage outside the store, and were unable to call 911 because there was no cell service.
She said the group in the freezer were all in “panic mode,” and when her son started crying, “they finally got him calmed down because I didn’t want the shooter to hear it.”
“We just sat there and prayed. I was in panic mode. My son almost froze to death,” she said.
Callie’s heartbroken mother said after her death: ‘I just want to know why Joey Posey woke up this morning and decided he had to go and ruin families’ lives.’
Damage can be seen Friday to a front window where law enforcement officers were working on site
‘We tried to keep him quiet, but he said he wanted his father. It felt like we were there forever.
“I asked the Lord to protect everyone. I was just praying. The other lady was praying. She was crying.”
The group only emerged when police warned them it was safe, following a shootout with the gunman that left two officers injured.
Arkansas State Police said Posey is in a nearby hospital but is expected to be charged with three counts of murder, with more charges likely to follow.