BOULDER, Colo. — Authorities in Colorado responded to a shooting at a supermarket Monday.
A man who had just left the store in Boulder, Dean Schiller, told The Associated Press that he heard gunshots and saw three people lying face down, two in the parking lot and one near the doorway. He said he “couldn’t tell if they were breathing.”
Video posted on YouTube showed one person on the floor inside the store and two more outside on the ground, but the extent of their injuries wasn’t clear. What sounds like two gunshots are also heard at the beginning of the video.
Police haven’t released information on injuries but planned a news conference this evening. Officers escorted a shirtless man with blood running down his leg out of the store in handcuffs and an ambulance pulled away from the store.
One person was taken from the shooting scene to Foothills Hospital in Boulder, said Rich Sheehan, spokesman for Boulder Community Health, which operates the hospital. Sheehan said he could not provide additional details but did say that “we have been notified we will not be receiving any additional patients.”
Law enforcement vehicles and officers massed outside the King Soopers grocery store, including SWAT teams, and at least three helicopters were on the roof of the store in the city that’s home to the University of Colorado and is about 25 miles (40 kilometres) northwest of Denver.
Some windows at the front of the store were broken. Authorities over a loudspeaker said the building was surrounded and that “you need to surrender.” They said to come out with hands up and unarmed.
Hours later, Boulder police tweeted for people to “shelter in place while they respond to report of armed, dangerous individual” about 3 miles (5 kilometres) away from the store in what appears to be a residential area near downtown and the University of Colorado. They said they’re investigating if it’s related to the shooting at the supermarket.
A man who said he was shopping at the grocery store told KCNC-TV that he heard a loud bang, then heard another, and by the third, everyone was running. He said they ran to the back of the store, found the employee area and workers told them how to escape. He said they walked single file, with their arms on the backs of those in front of them.
Officers helped some people out of the store to safety.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis tweeted a statement that his “heart is breaking as we watch this unspeakable event unfold in our Boulder community.” He called it “very much an active situation” and said the state was “making every public safety resource available to assist the Boulder County Sheriff’s Department as they work to secure the store.”
The FBI said it’s helping in the investigation at the request of Boulder police.
Kevin Daly, owner of Under the Sun Eatery and Pizzeria Restaurant a block or so from the supermarket, said he was in his shop when he saw police cars arriving and shoppers running from the grocery store. He said he took in several people to keep them warm, and others boarded a bus provided by Boulder police and were taken away.
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Associated Press reporters James Anderson and Colleen Slevin in Denver contributed to this story.
Patty Nieberg, The Associated Press