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Hostage Situation At Walmart Store In Amarillo Ends, Gunman Mohammad Moghaddam Dead [Updated]

By Rahul Srinivas
Published on: 05:57 PST, Jun 14, 2016

Just two days after the Orlando terror attacks, we are now receiving reports of a possible hostage situation at a Walmart store in Amarillo, Texas. According to Fox News, police officials have rushed to the scene following reports of an armed gunman inside the store. City officials had earlier reported an “active shooter incident” in the store.

Update: The gunman has been shot dead. More details below.

A status update by the Randall County Sheriff’s Office read, “Officers from RCSO and several other law enforcement agencies are currently on scene with an armed subject at the Walmart on Georgia and I-27. All residents are urged to stay away from that area. There are reports the subject inside may have hostages. We will keep you updated.”

Initial reports say that an unidentified armed gunman has taken at least one person hostage. The hostage is reportedly an employee working at Walmart.

Meanwhile, unverified reports say that the shooter is suspected to be a Somali citizen who was driving a light green Toyota Avalon. The vehicle was registered to an individual named Muhammad Khalid. At this time, it remains unclear if the owner of the vehicle and the shooter are the same persons.

Details are sketchy as of this writing.

Below are tweets related to the incident in Amarillo, Texas.

According to recent reports, this was an “workplace violence type of an event.”

Earlier in the day, the official Twitter handle for the city of Amarillo tweeted about the active shooter incident.

Here are the sequence of tweets following the first one.

The last tweet at the time of this story’s publication said that the armed shooter has been shot and that he is “apparently dead.”

Earlier, the Amarillo Police Department also issued a statement that said:

“APD and several other agencies are on scene at the Walmart on Georgia. There are reports of an armed subject inside who may have hostages. More info when it’s available. Please avoid the area so that officers can focus on the scene and not traffic. Any media is asked to respond to the area of 42nd and Georgia.”

Update: A few pictures from the scene of the incident posted by Karen Welch;

A statement released by the Randall County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that the hostage situation has ended. It read;

“We want to thank everyone who helped spread the word today during the intense hostage situation at Walmart. Your shares helped us keep the area clear during an extremely dangerous situation and helped us inform the public in a very timely manner. Again, the hostages were freed within the past half hour after the suspect was shot and killed by Amarillo Police Department SWAT team members. The area will remain closed to traffic as the investigation continues, so please continue to avoid the streets around Georgia and I-27.”

Update: The shooter has been identified as Mohammad Moghaddam, a 45-year-old man.

[Image By Jared C. Benedict, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons]

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