Police announce fourth death in Arkansas supermarket shooting

A fourth victim in a shooting at an Arkansas supermarket died Saturday night, state police announced.

Police identified the deceased as Ellen Shrum, 81.

Several others were injured in the shooting that occurred shortly after 11:30 a.m. Friday inside and outside the Mad Butcher supermarket in Fordyce, a town about 70 miles south of Little Rock.

Thirteen people were struck in the shooting, including two police officers, Arkansas State Police said. None of the four deceased victims are police officers.

The other three dead were previously identified by police and family members as Callie Weems, 23; Roy Sturgis, 50; and Shirley Taylor, 62.

Seven other civilians – five women and two men, aged between 20 and 65 – survived their injuries, police said Saturday night. Four of those seven remain in hospital, including one woman who is in critical condition.

A Fordyce police officer, James Johnson, 31, was released Saturday morning from a hospital in Little Rock, police said. He was treated for a gunshot wound.

The other injured officer, 24-year-old John Hudson of the Stuttgart Police Department, suffered minor injuries, police said.

The suspect, 44-year-old Travis Eugene Posey, who police said will be charged with four counts of capital murder, was also wounded in an exchange of gunfire with authorities. Other charges are pending.

After receiving care for his injuries, which police said were not life-threatening, the suspect was taken into custody by Arkansas State Police and booked into the Ouachita County Detention Center.

It was unclear whether Posey has a lawyer, and the Dallas County, Arkansas, public defender’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent Friday. Attempts to contact possible relatives by phone were unsuccessful.

Police have not yet determined a motive. Law enforcement officials briefed on the shooting told NBC News on Saturday that there are no indications of any type of extremism as a possible motive.

Witnesses described the horror, and some said the shooting began in the supermarket parking lot. A meat cutter who works at Mad Butcher said he heard gunshots and glass breaking in the back of the store and was able to get out safely through the back door.

The Arkansas State Police are investigating the shooting.