Update…

UNDATED (AP)  Police have identified the man who was killed and the woman who was injured when a U.S. airman walked into a North Dakota Wal-Mart Supercenter and opened fire before turning the gun on himself.
 
     Seventy-year-old Gregory Weiland was killed and 47-year-old Lisa Braun was injured in the shooting shortly after 1 a.m. Tuesday at the store in Grand Forks.
 
     Altru Hospital says Braun is in satisfactory condition.

 Her father Larry Friesz , says his daughter expects to be hospitalized for up to four days.
 
     Authorities say 21-year-old Marcell Willis walked into the store, shot Weiland and Braun and fired but missed at a third employee before killing himself. Lt. Derik Zimmel says police aren’t identifying the third worker.
 
     Zimmel says the shooting appears to have been random.
 
     Willis was stationed at Grand Forks Air Force Base west of the city.
 
     The store remained closed early Wednesday.

Police say an autopsy will determine if Willis who fatally shot one worker and injured a second before killing himself at a North Dakota Wal-Mart, had drugs or alcohol in his system.

Zimmel said Wednesday that he doesn’t know when the results will be available but called the autopsy “the next significant step in this case.”

 

Reported previously…

MarcellWillisAuthorities say 21-year-old U.S. airman Marcell Willis walked into the Grand Forks store shortly after 1 a.m. Tuesday and opened fire. Zimmel says the shooting appears to have been random.

Authorities did not immediately identify the victims of the shooting.

Willis was stationed at Grand Forks Air Force Base, about a dozen miles west of the city.

The store remained closed early Wednesday.

GRAND FORKS, N.D. (AP) – The gunman in a deadly Wal-Mart shooting in Grand Forks, North Dakota, has been identified as an airman from nearby Grand Forks Air Force Base.

Police say 21-year-old Marcell Willis walked into the store shortly after 1 a.m. Tuesday and shot two employees with a handgun, killing one and injuring the other. Authorities say Willis tried to shoot another worker but missed, then killed himself.

Police say the shooting appears to have been random. They haven’t found a link between Willis and the Wal-Mart store or the employees.

Authorities did not immediately identify the two workers who were shot. The injured person was taken to Altru Hospital in Grand Forks.

Police said they won’t release victims’ names until Wednesday, pending full family notification.

 

By JAMES MacPHERSON and BLAKE NICHOLSON
Associated Press
The father and girlfriend of a U.S. Air Force airman accused of a deadly shooting at a Wal-Mart Supercenter in North Dakota early Tuesday are saying little about the man.

Grand Forks police say 21-year-old Marcell Willis walked into the store and opened fire with a handgun, killing one worker and injuring a second before shooting himself.

Police say the shooting may have been random, with no link yet found between Willis and either the store or the employees.

Sean Willis of Nashville, Tennessee, says his son had been in the military for about three years.

Amy Mehs was Willis’ girlfriend who lives in Hatton, North Dakota, about 35 miles southwest of Grand Forks. She says she can’t comment on the shooting because it’s under investigation.

AP’s earlier stories are below.

A U.S. airman walked into a Wal-Mart Supercenter in North Dakota early Tuesday and opened fire with a handgun, killing one worker and injuring a second before turning the gun on himself, police said.

Grand Forks police said the shooting that occurred a few minutes after 1 a.m. may have been random, with no link yet found between Marcell Willis, 21, and either the store or the employees. Willis was stationed at Grand Forks Air Force Base, about a dozen miles west of the city.

“We’ve not been able to find any linkage to him and any of the victims. That’s not to say that can’t change,” police Lt. Derik Zimmel said during an afternoon news conference. “There’s no apparent motive that jumps out at this time.”

Authorities did not immediately identify the two workers who were shot or a third worker they say Willis shot at but missed. The injured person was taken to Altru Hospital in Grand Forks with a gunshot wound that was not believed to be life-threatening, Zimmel said. An Altru spokeswoman said the person was listed in “satisfactory condition” Tuesday afternoon.

Willis was given medical treatment at the scene and taken to Altru, where he was pronounced dead, Zimmel said.

Willis was the only person with a gun and no police officers fired a weapon, according to Zimmel. A handgun was recovered near Willis’ body, Zimmel said.

Andy Legg, who was in the store at the time of the shooting, told WDAZ-TV that he heard “popping sounds” shortly before authorities herded him and other customers to a safe section of the store.

“I saw people running. At that time, we heard people screaming, one yelling for help,” he said.

When police later escorted them from the building, they passed a Wal-Mart employee lying on the ground, covered in blood.

“It’s just something you don’t see every day and really don’t want to see,” Legg said. “I had goose bumps for probably two hours after that.”

A SWAT team that responded to the scene searched a car in the parking lot but found no threats.

The Wal-Mart is one of two in the northeastern North Dakota city of about 55,000 people. The store is open 24 hours, though it was closed Tuesday while authorities investigated the shooting. The company said it did not know when the store would reopen.

“We are deeply saddened about this situation and our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families,” the company said in a statement. “We are still learning information about the events surrounding this tragedy and assisting law enforcement in their investigation.”

Wal-Mart spokesman Brian Nick said in a statement that there were about 30 employees and 20 customers in the store at the time of the shooting.

“There weren’t a lot due to the early morning hour,” Nick said.

About 1,500 airmen are assigned to the Grand Forks Air Force Base, the military said. The base was home to air refueling tankers for 50 years until a round of military base closings and realignments took that away. The last tankers left in 2011 and the base has taken on an unmanned aircraft mission.

 

Previously….

GRAND FORKS, N.D. (AP) – Police say the gunman is among the two people who died in a shooting at a Wal-Mart store in Grand Forks, North Dakota.

Lt. Derik Zimmel says the shooter was the only person with a gun, and police do not believe there is any further safety risk to the general public.

Zimmel says one other person was injured and taken to a hospital. He says the injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.

Officers responded to reports of gunshots shortly after 1 a.m. Tuesday. Zimmel says no police officers fired a weapon.

The names of the people involved were not immediately released. Grand Forks Air Force Base issued a statement saying an airman was one of the people involved but did not elaborate.

Zimmel says police are investigating.

Previously…

GRAND FORKS, N.D. (AP) – Police say two people have died in a shooting at a Wal-Mart store in Grand Forks, North Dakota.

Officers responded to reports of gunshots shortly after 1 a.m. Tuesday. Deputy Police Chief Mike Ferguson says officers discovered “multiple victims” inside the store, and that several of them were taken to a hospital for treatment of unspecified injuries.

Police did not immediately release any details on the shooter but did say that they do not believe there is any further risk to the general public.

The names of the two people who died were not immediately released.