1 Dead, 2 Injured At Long Island Supermarket Shooting, Suspect At Large
The Nassau County Police Department responded to a shooting at a West Hempstead, New York supermarket that left one dead and two others hurt early Tuesday afternoon.
Nassau County Police have identified the shooter as Gabriel DeWitt Wilson, 30, as the suspect who entered the West Hempstead Stop & Shop supermarket with handgun early Tuesday afternoon. Wilson, according to police, shot three people inside of the supermarket’s managers office. One person was killed after being shot by Wilson. The other injured people have been transported to local area hospitals with gunshot wounds, but are in a stable condition and talking to detectives about the incident .
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Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder stated in a press release from the scene that the man who was killed was 49-years-old. Police can confirm that the only people injured from the shooter were Stop & Stop employees.
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The store was full of patrons at the time of the shooting who fled quickly from the store as shots rang out in the managers office inside the store. At least 100 people were said to be in the store just as the shooting began. A witness who heard the shots ring out nearby commented, “You never think anything like this will happen in our own backyard. It’s scary to think that I was just in there yesterday at this same time.”
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There is a heavy police presence at both Wilson’s Long Beach and Hempstead residence as hundreds of police assets search the area and try to locate the suspect, who is still at large.
Nassau Police ask anyone who sees the suspect to call 911. Anyone with information about Wilson or the shooting is asked to call Nassau County Police Crime Stoppers at 1-800-244-TIPS or the Fifth Squad at 516-573-6552.
Photo Credit: Frank L. / Priority News Network
UPDATE: Nassau County Police released new information on the circumstances leading up to the shooting during a press conference Wednesday afternoon. Police say that Wilson was a “troubled employee” who recently put in a request to transfer to another store prior to when the shooting occurred.