Nurse was treating gunshot sufferer when she was killed in Arkansas mass capturing

Callie Weems was reveling in her new function as a mother within the months earlier than a gunman in Arkansas fatally shot her at a grocery retailer.

Her daughter Ivy, now 10 months outdated, was a relentless supply of leisure and marvel, Weems’ mom, Helen Browning, 53, stated in a cellphone interview on Sunday as she shared reminiscences of her daughter.

Weems, 23, was amongst 4 individuals fatally wounded and one other 11 injured – together with the alleged gunman – within the capturing on the Mad Butcher retailer in Fordyce, Arkansas, on Friday, in line with authorities. Just an hour earlier than, Weems was marveling that her little lady had let her sleep in till 9 a.m. that morning.

“‘I guess you are feeling like a brand new mother,'” Browning recalled texting again.

It was the final dialog they’d earlier than police say 44-year-old Travis Eugene Posey, of New Edinburg, opened hearth on the retailer, riddling automobiles with bullet holes as panicked bystanders ducked and scrambled for canopy amid a barrage of gunfire.

Weems, a nurse, died serving to one other gunshot sufferer, Arkansas State Police Director Mike Hagar stated on Sunday.

“Instead of fleeing the shop, she stopped to render help in some of the selfless acts I’ve ever seen,” he stated at a information convention.

In all, state police stated 15 individuals have been shot Friday, together with 12 civilians, two legislation enforcement officers, and the gunman.

It was no less than the third mass capturing at a U.S. grocery within the final three years. In 2022, a white supremacist killed 10 Black individuals at a Buffalo grocery store. That got here a bit greater than a 12 months after 10 individuals have been fatally shot at a grocery store in Boulder, Colorado.

Police stated Sunday that Posey’s motive was nonetheless unclear, however he appeared to don’t have any private connection to any of the victims.

He carried a 12-gauge shotgun, a pistol and a bandolier with dozens of additional shotgun rounds, authorities stated. He fired most, if not all, of the rounds, utilizing the shotgun, opening hearth at individuals within the parking zone earlier than coming into the shop and firing “indiscriminately” at clients and workers, Hagar stated.

Fordyce police and Dallas County sheriff’s deputies arrived inside minutes, and Posey exited the shop and exchanged gunfire with them earlier than they shot him and took him into custody.

For Browning, the tragedy was amplified by her connection to a different sufferer, Roy Sturgis, 50, who was additionally shot and killed. She stated Sturgis was a part of her prolonged household, a logger and a loving father to his daughter.

“Roy was as nation as cornbread,” she stated. “He lived a easy life. He was a easy man.”

The different victims who died have been recognized as Shirley Taylor, 62, and Ellen Shrum, 81.

Taylor took care of her husband, who had diabetes, and crocheted, her daughter, Angela Atchley, told CBS affiliate KTHV in Little Rock, Arkansas.

“She was our household rock,” Atchley stated.

“Like a warfare zone”

Fordyce, a metropolis of about 3,200 individuals positioned 65 miles south of Little Rock, was reeling from the capturing, metropolis council member Roderick Rogers stated Sunday.

He went to the grocery retailer on Friday after individuals there known as for his assist.

“It was like a warfare zone,” Rogers stated, describing the gunman capturing “like loopy” within the parking zone.

One witness, David Rodriguez, was at a gasoline station subsequent to the grocery retailer when the capturing began. He informed CBS News he pulled into the gasoline station and “heard some popping” and at first he thought it was fireworks. Then, he stated, he heard the sirens and noticed the police pull up, and “individuals simply began operating everywhere.”

Rodriguez took out his cellular phone and began filming moments after he heard the pictures. “There is somebody mendacity within the parking zone shot,” he might be heard saying.

Rodriguez informed CBS News, “It was fairly a scare.” 

Ken Vanderzwalm, who labored three doorways down from the grocery retailer at a garden mower provider, informed CBS News a number of individuals bumped into their store when the capturing began, “crying and screaming.” Vanderzwalm, a former police officer, who stated he was armed, stated he let the individuals know they might “be protected” contained in the constructing. 

“We had quite a lot of children who have been actually traumatized,” he stated.

Residents within the tight-knit neighborhood anxious about victims who have been nonetheless within the hospital and even about the potential for one other capturing, he stated.

“Lots of people are frightened,” he stated. “They wish to really feel protected proper now.”

Hagar stated the officers and deputies who responded to the scene knew the shooter and the victims, making the assault significantly troublesome and private.

The wounded vary in age from 20 to 65, police stated. Five have been nonetheless hospitalized, together with a lady in vital situation.

Police stated Posey, who was in custody on the Ouachita County Detention Center, will probably be charged with 4 counts of capital homicide.

A state police spokesperson stated Sunday she believed Posey had an legal professional, however she didn’t know the particular person’s title.

Browning stated Posey went to highschool together with her youngest sister, and he or she by no means would have thought he may do one thing so violent.

She plans to lift Ivy now.

“She will know that her mom liked her,” she stated. “And that she was the sunshine of momma’s eyes.”