A suspect has been apprehended after targeted shootings at a Georgia Walmart and an area home left two dead and one injured, authorities said Friday.
Deputies from the Newton County Sheriff’s Office responded to a Walmart around 1:30 a.m. Friday, the office said in a news release.
The store was closed, with only employees inside, when one worker allegedly exited the building and retrieved a firearm, the office said. The employee reentered the store and fatally shot an acquaintance inside the building, the sheriff’s office said. The employee then allegedly “encountered a second acquaintance” outside the store and shot them, authorities said. The second victim was transported to an area hospital in critical condition.
The employee then went to a home a little under two miles away from the Walmart, the sheriff’s office said. There, the employee forced entrance into the home and fatally shot another acquaintance, the office said. It was unclear if that victim was also a coworker.
“This was not an active shooter situation. The suspect specifically targeted individuals they knew,” the sheriff’s office said.
The suspect was apprehended in South Carolina, the sheriff’s office said. It did not elaborate on where or how the suspect was caught.
An investigation remains active and ongoing, the sheriff’s office said.
A spokesperson for Walmart said the company was “heartbroken by what’s happened.”
“There’s no place for violence in our stores,” said Joe Pennington, the director of Walmart’s global press office. “We’re focused on taking care of our associates and supporting law enforcement with their investigation.”
CBS News has reached out to the Newton County Sheriff’s Office for more information.
Newton County is located in north-central Georgia and is about 40 miles from Atlanta, GA.
