‘Disgruntled employee’ kills 2 co-workers, wounds officer inside Mississippi Walmart 

A “disgruntled employee” killed two Walmart colleagues and wounded a responding police officer Tuesday in far northwest Mississippi, authorities said.

The deadly incident started at about 6:32 a.m. at the superstore before another responding officer eventually wounded the shooter, who was then taken into custody, a Southaven police dispatcher said.

Two employees were “senselessly murdered this morning in our city,” Southaven police Chief Macon Moore told reporters. Southaven is a suburb of Memphis, Tennessee, which is about 16 miles away.

“These people were doing the same thing that you and I do every day, showing up for work in an attempt to provide for their families, then became the victims of a senseless violent act,” Moore said.

The first 911 calls came in at 6:33 a.m. and officers arrived at 6:36 a.m., police said. Two officers exchanged fire with the suspect, whom they found in the store’s parking lot, Moore said.

The shooter is in custody and was identified by police as Martez Tarrell Abram, 39. Abram wounded one officer before the other brought him down, police said.

Authorities said Abrams was suspended from Walmart pending the outcome of an investigation, according to a statement from Southaven Police Department.

“One of our officers was shot at this time. He was saved by his vest,” Moore said. “At this point, the suspect was engaged by another officer. He was struck twice by gunfire from our officer. He was taken into custody.”

Just two weeks ago, Southaven police and firefighters conducted an active shooter simulation, according to Moore and Musselwhite.

“The training we did paid off today,” Musselwhite said.

Customer Phil Cox, 70, had just left that Walmart when he heard a gunshot near him in the parking lot, turned and saw a man, no more than 40 feet from him, sprinting into the store. That man was later identified as the gunman, according to the witness.