A usually tranquil shopping trip in Fordyce, Arkansas turned tragic when gunfire broke out at the local Mad Butcher store on Friday, June 21, leading to the deaths of four individuals and injuring nine others, among them two police officers.
Travis Eugene Posey, 44, was identified as the shooter and was injured and apprehended after an exchange of gunfire with the police.
The victims included 23-year-old Callie Weems, a licensed practical nurse and mother of a 10-month-old, 50-year-old Roy Sturgis, and 63-year-old Shirley Kay Taylor. Ellen Shrum, 81, succumbed to her injuries on Saturday.
According to reports, the shooting started around 11:30 a.m. when Posey allegedly began firing outside the grocery store, shattering the front windows before proceeding inside. Horrified shoppers scrambled for cover, including in the store’s freezer room.
Shopper Katrina Doherty, who was with her 18-year-old daughter and four-year-old son at the time of the shooting, recounted the terrifying experience: “It was like slow motion my daughter was like Mama, pinch me this can’t be real, and I was like, Baby, it’s real.”
Doherty and her children, along with other customers and staff, sought safety in a freezer. “We were just sitting there and praying. I was in panic mode. My son about froze to death,” she shared. “We tried to get him quiet, but he was saying he wanted his daddy. It felt like we were in there forever.”
They remained in the freezer, unable to call for help due to lack of cell service, and only emerged when police announced it was safe, after a shootout with the suspect that resulted in two officers being injured.
Helen Browning, Callie Weems’ mother, expressed her despair upon learning of her daughter’s demise. Initially thinking Weems was safe at her hospital job, Browning was shattered when she reached the crime scene: “My best friend was standing right there and I said, Kristie, tell me my baby’s OK. and she said, I can’t,” Browning stated. “And that’s when I just broke.”
Browning, who had known the shooter since his childhood, was left in utter disbelief by the incident. “I just want to know why Posey woke up this morning and decided he needed to go ruin families’ lives,” she expressed. She also revealed that her niece’s father was the third victim of the shooting.
Angela Atchley, daughter of victim Shirley Kay Taylor, announced her mother’s death on social media, referring to Taylor as a “great woman” who “didn’t deserve this.”
The incident has left the community of Fordyce, a small city in southeast Dallas County with a population of around 3,396 as of 2020, stunned. Local officials are organizing counseling services for the survivors and those affected by the tragedy.
The Arkansas State Police reported that Posey, a truck driver, is in the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries from the police shootout. He’s expected to face three counts of capital murder, with more charges likely to follow.
The motive for the shooting is still under investigation. According to law enforcement officials, there are no indications that extremism might have played a role in the incident. Posey was previously arrested in 2011 for possessing a gun at Fort Drum, an army base in upstate New York.
Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders commended the “heroic actions” of law enforcement and first responders in the aftermath of the shooting. The White House confirmed that President Joe Biden has been briefed on the incident and is receiving updates.
The Mad Butcher grocery store, where the shooting took place, issued a statement expressing shock and sorrow over the “senseless act of violence” and announced its closure until further notice as the investigation proceeds.
As Fordyce starts the healing process, questions remain about what could have driven Posey to allegedly carry out such a horrific act. This incident has sparked renewed debates about gun violence in Arkansas, a state with some of the least restrictive gun laws in the United States.
