Gunmen Fire at Florida Stores; 1 Dead, 14 Hurt

Two men armed with rifles opened fire at two downtown shopping centers Thursday, and officials said one police officer was killed and at least 14 people were wounded.

The gunmen, authorities said, then took an unknown number of hostages in a supermarket. One gunman was taken into custody, a police spokeswoman said.

Up to 100 police officers converged on the scene and police snipers were stationed on rooftops, according to witnesses. Hundreds of shoppers were evacuated from the area and many others were lying on the ground, but in the confusion and panic it was not immediately clear how many had been shot.

“Thirty is the number of bodies we have on the ground,” Palm Bay Police spokeswoman Louise Brown said. She said one police officer had been killed, and another injured, but did not know the condition of the others.

The Holmes Regional Medical Center received 14 people with gunshot wounds, spokeswoman Mary Lu Tombleson said. She could not provide details.

Brown said she did not know the circumstances of the one gunman’s arrest.

Witnesses described both gunmen as having red hair, one in his late 20s and the other in his 50s, and both were believed to have been carrying military rifles, Brown said.

She said a special telephone line was being set up for hostage negotiations.

Brown said the men opened fire at 6:25 p.m. in front of a Publix grocery store in this Atlantic coastal town about 70 miles southeast of Orlando.

From the store, they went to a nearby Winn Dixie store and continued firing before entering and taking hostages, Brown said. It was not immediately known how many people were in the grocery store.

Climb to Roof

Witnesses said the gunmen climbed to the roof of the store where shots were fired. Shots also were fired inside the store, witnesses said.

A woman who answered the phone at a Luria’s jewelry store across the street from the Winn Dixie said several employees and about a dozen customers had locked themselves inside after she said police told them a gunman was still in the grocery store.

“We’re listening to the radio. That’s where we’re getting most of our information,” said the woman, who declined to give her name.

Another witness said dozens of police officers swarmed the area.

“I at one point saw a fire chief’s car leading a pickup truck with a person who had obviously been shot,” said Dick Baumbach, a resident of the area. “I would estimate that there are no fewer than 100 police officers.”