(Reuters) – One man was killed and two other people were wounded in a midday shooting on Tuesday at a crowded grocery store in a Long Island suburb of New York City, and police are hunting for the suspect who fled.
The attack unfolded shortly after 11 a.m. in the second-floor manager’s office at a Stop & Shop store in West Hempstead, said Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder.
The suspect, who was dressed in all black, was identified by police as Gabriel DeWitt Wilson, 31, of Hempstead and Long Beach, New York. He is either a current or former employee of the Stop & Shop, Ryder said.
“He did have a small handgun,” Ryder said. “We don’t know the reason for the shooting.”
Witnesses interviewed on local media reported hearing at least six shots. Some witnesses reported to news crews that the suspect may have jumped onto a bus to escape, but police could not confirm that account.
“It’s an ongoing investigation,” Ryder said, who added that the two wounded people were alert and conscious and being treated at a local hospital.
The deceased person was only described as a 49-year-old man. It is unclear if the dead or wounded were also employees of the store.
(Reporting by Rich McKay in Atlanta and Barbara Goldberg in New York; Editing by Nick Zieminski)
