Why are there so many shooting incidents and other gun crimes on Walmart property?

Monday, November 12, 2012

Shootout at Walmart in Port Orchard, Washington: man and teen girl killed, two cops injured

Crime scene at Port Orchard Walmart
Occurred January 23, 2012

Three police officers responded to a suspicious person report at the local Walmart.  When they arrived, they confronted a man and a teen girl.  The man, 31-year-old Anthony A. Martinez, then ran from the officers andopened fire on them, hitting two of the officers and wounding them.  The third officer then shot and hit Martinez as well as the girl.  Both Martinez and the girl died.

From an article and news video:
Authorities have identified a Salt Lake City man as the person who ran from deputies before opening fire in a Walmart parking lot in Port Orchard, sparking a shootout that killed him and a young woman and wounded two deputies. 
The Washington State Patrol says the man is 31-year-old Anthony A. Martinez.
State Patrol Trooper Krista Hedstrom says the identity of the woman has not yet been verified. 
The two injured deputies are reported to be in satisfactory condition. One is set to be released from the hospital today. 
Sunday's violence came after the Kitsap County Sheriff's deputies answered a call about a suspicious person at the store in Port Orchard. 
Two male deputies located the man and tried to talk to him but he began running, pursued by the officers. 
"For reasons not yet known, the suspect turned and fired multiple shots," sheriff's spokesman Scott Wilson said. 
Both men were hit and were unable to return fire, but a female officer arriving on the scene shot and killed the gunman, Wilson said. 
The female deputy also shot a young female, who died later at a Tacoma hospital.
The State Patrol has talked to police in Utah. Authorities say Anthony Martinez was wanted in Utah in connection with the disappearance of a 13-year-old runaway in South Salt Lake City. The pair were also reported driving a blue van that was the same model as a van towed from the scene of the shooting.  
"We believe that she and the deceased gunman knew each other, that they were together. We just have not yet established what that relationship was." Wilson told The Associated Press.
From a related article:

The WSP said they are investigating the possibility that the teen victim is 13-year-old Astrid Valdivia, who was missing from a South Salt Lake foster home. 
A news release from South Salt Lake police dated Jan. 20 said Valdivia was thought to be traveling with Martinez. They said Valdivia had a history of running away and has been missing since Jan. 18. 
Minutes from a Davis County, Utah, district court said Martinez pleaded not guilty on Nov. 3 to a charge of first-degree child kidnapping. He bailed out of jail last fall for allegedly kidnapping Valdivia in Utah. 
The two deputies suffered injuries that were not life-threatening, Deputy Scott Wilson of the Sheriff's Office said, and were taken to Tacoma General. 
Both deputies were wearing bullet-proof vests but were shot in the arms and shoulders, police said. 
Kitsap County Sheriff Steve Boyer told KIRO 7 Eyewitness News that one of the wounded deputies gave first aid to his wounded partner, not realizing he was also wounded.


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