Callie Weems and Shirley Kay Taylor id as 2 of 3 fatal victims in Fordyce, Arkansas grocery store mass shooting at the hands of Travis Eugene Posey. No known motive in shooting that killed 3 and led to 10 others injured.
A 23-year-old nurse and a 63-year-old grandmother have been named as two of three fatal victims who were fatally shot at an Arkansas grocery store, Friday just before noon in a mass shooting that left 3 dead and another 11 injured (including the gunman and two responding officers).
Seven other shoppers were injured in the mass shooting in Fordyce where the suspect gunman Travis Eugene Posey, 44, allegedly opened fire before being hit in a police shoot-out and suffering non life threatening wounds.
Identified as the fatal victims were, Callie Weems, a 23 year old local nurse and mother of a ten month old girl and grandmother Shirley Kay Taylor, 63, who were both killed at the scene along with a third deceased victim yet to be named.
Rapid gunfire from parking lot
Posey, who owns a tree service company, was taken into custody after being shot in a shoot-out with police, as the gunman was seen in video opening gunfire in the parking lot in front of the Mad Butcher grocery store, (see below) as terrified witnesses hid in freezers and behind cars.
Posey allegedly began his onslaught at around 11:30am, as witnesses said he shot out the grocery store’s front windows before rapidly firing a number of bullets inside.
Cellphone footage captured Posey in the parking lot with a long gun, allegedly shooting into the Mad Butcher store and at police arriving on the scene.
A total of 10 people were shot, with authorities saying the motive for the massacre remains unclear.
Weems’ mother, Helen Browning, said that she initially believed her daughter was safe, because she turned on her location tracker when she heard of the mass shooting and saw she was at the hospital.
‘I’m thinking, “She’s at work. She came in to help,”‘ Browning told Fox16.
No known motive
But she said her fears were raised when she couldn’t get hold of her daughter, and said the tragic truth dawned on her when she raced to the scene with Callie’s stepfather, Bruce Grice.
‘My best friend was standing right there and I said, “Kristie, tell me my baby’s OK.” and she said, “I can’t,”‘ Browning said. ‘And that’s when I just broke.”
Helen lamented the loss of Callie, the mother of 10-month-old daughter Ivy, and revealed that she had known Posey since he was a child.
‘I just want to know why Joey Posey woke up this morning and decided he needed to go ruin families’ lives,’ she said.
The mother revealed that her niece’s father was the third victim killed in the shooting, who has not been named publicly, and said his loss is a ‘double whammy to our family.’
Hiding for their lives
Alongside the two family members shot dead, 63-year-old Shirley Kay Taylor was also killed in the senseless mass shooting.
Her daughter Angela Atchley revealed the heartbreaking news on Facebook, where she said her mother was a ‘great woman’ who ‘didn’t deserve this.’
Witness Katrina Doherty told CNN that she was shopping with her 18-year-old daughter and four-year-old son when bullets rang out across the store.
She fled into a freezer with other shoppers and staff at the back of the building, as her family ‘still heard gunshots going off.’
‘It was like slow motion my daughter was like “Mama, pinch me this can’t be real”, and I was like, “Baby, its real.”‘
Doherty said they remained trapped inside the freezer while the shooter rampaged outside the store, and were unable to call 911 with no cell service inside.
🇺🇸🚨‼️ BREAKING: The victim count in the mass shooting in Fordyce, Arkansas, has risen to 14 total that were shot, of which 4 died.
The Arkansas State Police spokesman reported that 14 total people have been shot, which includes 11 civilians (3 dead), 2 officers, and the mass… https://t.co/jOSIVgJ2d0 pic.twitter.com/K6nYceqev8
— TabZ (@TabZLIVE) June 21, 2024
She said the group in the freezer were all in ‘panic mode’, and when her son began crying, they ‘finally got him calmed down because I didn’t want the shooter to hear.’
‘We were just sitting there and praying. I was in panic mode. My son about froze to death,’ she said.
‘We tried to get him quiet, but he was saying he wanted his daddy. It felt like we were in there forever.
‘I was asking the Lord to protect over everybody. I was just praying. The other lady, she was praying. She was crying.’
The group only emerged once police cautioned them it was safe, following a shoot-out with the gunman that left two officers wounded.
Arkansas State Police said Posey is in a nearby hospital but is expected to be charged with three counts of capital murder, with additional charges also likely.
According to Everytown, Arkansas has the 9th-highest rate of gun deaths in the US. In an average year, 638 people die by guns and another 1,247 people are wounded in Arkansas.
