Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Four die in store shooting

A former U.S. Marine machine gunner wearing camouflage fatigues opened fire with a shotgun inside an Albertson's Food & Drug store early this morning killing four store employees and critically injuring a fifth.

The identity of the victims had not been released this morning. But Metro Police Lt. Rick Alba said three men and one woman were killed in the shooting rampage, which occurred shortly after 5 a.m., in the store at the busy intersection of Valley View Boulevard and Sahara Avenue.

A 21-year-old man was critically injured in the shooting and underwent surgery today at University Medical Center.

Zane Floyd, who lives with his parents at 4101 W. Oakey Blvd., just a few blocks from the supermarket, was taken into custody at the scene and faces four charges of homicide, Alba said.

Metro Police Lt. Wayne Petersen said the 23-year-old man's motive remained a mystery later this morning.

"Robbery does not appear to be the motive," Peterson said, adding that Floyd also doesn't appear to have any connection to the store.

"We're unsure why he chose this place to go on a rampage," he said.

At 9:30 a.m. the bodies of the four who were killed remained inside the store, and Clark County coroner's office investigators still were waiting to be called to the scene, Rod Heriford, a coroner's investigator said.

"It could go on for who knows how long," Heriford said.

Just before 9 a.m. two women, ages 20 and 34, walked out of the store's produce department cooler where they sought refuge when the shooting started.

Police rushed the women into a nearby ambulance, where they were examined by paramedics, said Kathi Rice, spokeswoman for American Medical Response, the ambulance company.

"They're very cold. They're very scared, and they're very emotional," Rice said. "These people who were killed were their coworkers, and they're very, very upset."

Paramedics worked to warm up the women before taking the 34-year-old woman to University Medical Center for further treatment. She was listed in good condition, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Las Vegas resident Mario Bojorquez anxiously awaited word on the identities of the pair of women. He suspected one may have been a friend of his, who delivered fresh flowers to Albertson's produce department every morning.

He said he began to worry as soon as he heard about the shooting on a morning newscast.

"We haven't been able to find her. We tried calling her on her cell phone, and she didn't answer," Bojorquez said.

Dozens of customers and employees who had been in the store when the gunfire erupted were rushed to the Carl's Jr. restaurant on the other side of the parking lot to be interviewed by police before being sent home.

Some stood outside hugging each other and staring at the tangle of police officers and onlookers milling around the shopping center parking lot. Visibly shaken by the ordeal, few were talking to anyone other than police investigators.

Peterson said Floyd walked into the store's main entrance on the south side of the building carrying a shotgun and apparently walked around shooting people at random. The five victims were found in different locations inside the store, Petersen said.

A man who said his son works at the store said he spoke briefly to his son shortly after the shooting. The man, who declined to give his name, said his son described how people huddled in various corners of the store and in the freezer.

His son told him the back door to the building was locked, cutting off a possible escape route. The father said his son was not injured but was emotionally shaken by the ordeal.

Petersen said patrol officers who arrived minutes after the emergency call arrested Floyd as he came out of the store carrying the shotgun. Floyd didn't resist as officers arrested him, Peterson said. Henry Brown, a former courtesy clerk at Albertson's, said he was on his way to the store to shop this morning when he heard the news.

'I was shocked, very shocked. What is it coming to when you can't go grocery shopping in a family store anymore," Brown, now a cook at the House of Blues, said.

Brown lives about three blocks from the store where he has shopped for 13 years. He said he knows most of the employees but doesn't know who was shot.

"I'm on a first-name basis with most of the people in there," Brown said.

He said if he still had been employed at the store he would have been on the graveyard shift -- the one that was working when the shooting occurred.

He described the store as a family-oriented business where customers and employees know each other. The most serious trouble he ever saw at the store was an occasional shoplifting.

By 9 a.m., most of the other businesses in the center remained closed. Greg Sanders, an ex-Denver police officer who manages the Q-Lube shop next to Carl's Jr., said he arrived at 7 a.m. for work as usual. But when he saw the barrage of police and reporters, he decided to stay closed to avoid creating more traffic.

He stood in the open bay of his garage sipping a cup of coffee and watched a scene that, even for an ex-officer, doesn't get any easier to stomach.

"Even as an ex-cop, I think it's amazing what can happen anymore," Sanders said. "You never think about it being this close."

Michael Read, vice president of public affairs at Albertson's headquarters in Boise, Idaho, said company officials were reeling with the news.

"We're just horrified by this. This is tragic, inexplicable and we are sickened by it," Read said. "We're still trying to confirm some of the details. We just want to express our horror at the tragedy and offer our deepest sympathy to those affected by it." The company, which has 995 stores in 25 states, sent a counseling team to help employees cope with the shooting.

Read said counselors were sent to Carl's Jr. to talk with the employees and customers who had been escorted there by police., Read said.

Las Vegas is unique because the Albertson's stores are open 24 hours. Read said the stores have additional security because of their hours, but declined to elaborate on the system.

"We have had tragedies in our stores in the past, but I don't know if we've ever had anything like this, Read said. "This is pretty rare."

Sun reportersSonya Padgett, Stacy Willis, Art Nadler, Adrienne Packer, Martin Kuz and Ben Grove contributed to this report.

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