June 10 (UPI) — A shooting at a South Florida grocery store Thursday left three people dead, including a child, local sheriff’s officials said.
The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office said the shooting took place inside a Publix supermarket in Royal Palm Beach, just west of West Palm Beach.
“Upon arrival, deputies located three individuals deceased from gunshot wounds, one adult male, one adult female and one child,” the PBSO said in a tweet. “The shooter is one of the deceased. This was NOT an active shooter situation.”
Palm Beach County Commissioner Melissa McKinlay said the child was a toddler, WPTV-TV in West Palm Beach reported.
“This one is hard,” she said. “You don’t like to hear about these things in your district. You don’t like to hear about them anywhere in the country.”
The Palm Beach Post reported police and emergency officials responded to the shopping center just before noon. Police kept most customers and employees inside the store for multiple hours for interviews before allowing some to leave around 2:30 p.m.
Authorities checked the license plates of vehicles in the parking lot and prevented employees and customers from moving them.
Publix spokeswoman Maria Brous issued a statement saying the company couldn’t confirm any details from the incident since it involved an active police investigation.
“Our thoughts are with those who are impacted by this tragedy,” she said. “We are cooperating with the local law enforcement.”
Police were investigating what led to the shooting.
