Police arrested Travis Eugene Posey, 44, of nearby New Edinburg, on Friday evening. He was treated for injuries that were not life-threatening, Hagar said.
Hagar said the shooter first opened fire in the store’s parking lot, then entered and “began firing indiscriminately in the store” before returning to the lot to exchange gunfire with the police, who had arrived within three minutes of the first 911 call. The suspect was wounded in the exchange.
The sheriff’s office inmate registry for Ouachita County, which borders Dallas County, showed that Posey was being held there. He will be charged with four counts of capital murder, the Arkansas Department of Public Safety said in a news release Saturday. That would make him eligible for either the death penalty or life without parole if convicted.
Those killed by the shooting were Roy Sturgis, 50; Shirley Taylor, 62; Callie Weems, 23; and Ellen Shrum, 81. Shrum died Saturday evening.
Two police officers were among the injured, authorities said.
This is the 12th mass shooting in the United States this year, according to a database compiled by Northeastern University, the Associated Press and USA Today. The database defines a fatal mass shooting as a mass killing “in which most or all the victims are killed by gunfire.”
Fordyce is about 60 miles south of downtown Little Rock, with a population of about 3,700, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Weems was a nurse and mother to a 10-month-old girl, according to NBC news. Hagar said that instead of fleeing the store when the violence began, Weems stopped to render aid to a gunshot victim and then was shot herself.
“It was one of the most selfless acts I’ve ever seen,” he said.
Taylor was devoted to her multigenerational family in Chambersville. She was the caretaker for her diabetic husband and her mother. She also helped to look after her grandchildren, her daughter told NBC news.
An obituary of Sturgis, published Sunday, said he lived in Kingsland, about five miles northeast of Fordyce, and is survived by his daughter, stepson and other family members.
One couple attacked by the shooter — Thomas Brazil Sr., 65, and Sharon Brazil, 61 — hadn’t even entered the store yet.
They were in the parking lot outside the store when the shooter started firing at their car, their daughter Nancy Brazil told The Washington Post.
A bullet grazed Thomas Brazil’s forehead. His wife was not physically harmed.
“It’s a blessing they are okay,” Nancy Brazil said, adding that her parents’ car was shot more than 20 times.
Kelsey Baker and Amber Ferguson contributed to this report.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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#Fordyce #Arkansas #shooting #suspects #motives #unclear #police