Three are dead and two have been injured after a man walked in to a Louisiana gun shop and started shooting as customers engaged him in gu...
Three are dead and two have been injured after a man walked in to a Louisiana gun shop and started shooting as customers engaged him in gunfire.
The suspect was one of the people killed in the shootout with customers and employees, according to a press release.
Cops said that just before 3pm officers were dispatched to the Jefferson Gun Outlet, which sits next to a roller skating rink on the 6900 block of Airline Drive in Metairie.
'We had one initial shooter here at the scene who hit two victims inside the location, both of them have been identified as deceased at this location,' said Jefferson Parish Sheriff Joe Lopinto during a brief press conference.
'It appears that several individuals ended up engaging that suspect, whether inside or out here in the parking lot.'
Two women sit on the curb inside the crime scene tape in the parking lot of the Jefferson Gun Outlet as investigators with the Jefferson Parish Sheriffs Office work the scene
A woman sits on the curb with a handgun on her side in the parking lot of the Jefferson Gun Outlet as investigators work the scene
A crime scene technician with the Jefferson Parish Sheriffs Office examines a handgun on the ground next to the screened body of a victim
An investigator steps over a shoe next to the shattered front door of the Jefferson Gun Outlet in Metairie, Louisiana on Saturday
People console one another across the street from the Jefferson Gun Outlet as investigators with the Jefferson Parish Sheriffs Department work the scene
A man hugs a woman as she cries across the street from the Jefferson Gun Outlet as investigators with the Jefferson Parish Sheriffs Department work the scene
A crime scene technician with the Jefferson Parish Sheriffs Office passes a parked ambulance as he arrives at Jefferson Gun Outlet
Three are dead and two have been injured after a man walked in to a Louisiana gun shop, pictured, and started shooting as customers engaged him in gunfire
An unidentified man looks down scene of a multiple fatality shooting at the Jefferson Gun Outlet in Metairi, Louisiana
Bystanders react at the scene of a multiple fatality shooting at the Jefferson Gun Outlet in Metairie on Saturday
Photos from the scene show evidence markers and broken glass in front of the Jefferson Gun Outlet in Metairie on Saturday
People are comforted by law enforcement as the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office deputies investigate a shooting at the Jefferson Gun Outlet
A gun is seen next to the curtains in front of a dead body at the scene of a multiple fatality shooting at the Jefferson Gun Outlet in Metairie
A man was pictured crying out 'Where is my son?' at the scene of a multiple fatality shooting at the Jefferson Gun Outlet
Law enforcement officers including agents with the ATF stand near the site of a shooting at a gun store in Metairie, Louisiana
Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office deputies investigate a shooting at the Jefferson Gun Outlet in Metairie on Saturday
Photos show bullet holes in the windshields of cars parked in the gun store's parking lot after a shootout in Louisiana on Saturday
Cops said that there are a total of three deceased, including the two victims who were inside the gun shop, which has an attached indoor gun range.
The man entered the gun outlet with a loaded gun unholstered, sources told WESH-TV.
The outlet reported that the suspect got into an argument with a clerk who told him he should not have a loaded gun until he got inside the range.
Shots were fired when two customers on the indoor range engaged the man, sources told the outlet. Sources told WESH-TV that the man was shot and fired back at the two customers.
A Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office Chaplain stands next to two women hugging including one who was wearing a Jefferson Gun Outlet shirt at the scene
Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives: ATF investigators look at evidence at the scene
Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives: ATF investigators look at evidence at the scene of a multiple fatality shooting
A Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office Chaplain comforts two women by a Taco Bell drive thru window next door to the scene of a multiple fatality shooting
Police sources told the outlet that people on the range engaged the shooter to try and keep others safe.
A reporter for the New Orleans Advocate reported seeing two separate 'shields' set up in the parking lot, which are 'typically used to block bodies from view.'
'Near these shields there is a handgun with an extended magazine on the ground,' Ramon Antonio Vargas tweeted.
'Josh, this is Momma. I love you,' a woman was seen crying in a folding chair about 15 feet away, according to Nola.com.
Another man was pictured crying out 'Where is my son?' at the scene of the shooting.
A customer, who had been upstairs in a concealed-carry class inside the building at the time of the shooting, told the outlet that the shooting started when two adult brothers arrived at the business.
The customer questioned why someone would start a shootout inside a gun store.
Sheriff Joe Lopinto said in a brief press conference that several inside the shop and gun range engaged the suspect in gunfire
Three people were killed, including the suspect, and two were injured in the shootout and transported to a local hospital
Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office deputies investigate a body blocked by the screen at a shooting at the Jefferson Gun Outlet
'Everybody's strapped in there,' he said, according to Nola.com.
One of the brothers was shot dead and the other was taken away in an ambulance, said people who claimed to be related to the victim.
'There's a spent brass bullet casing next to this orange triangle, about 40 yards away from the front entrance of Jefferson Gun Outlet in Metairie,' Vargas tweeted.
Vargas reported that the store's front door is shattered, and a Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office spokesperson warned news media photographers that 'one of the victims' is lying just a few feet from a deputy standing atop glass shards.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives' New Orleans Field Division tweeted that it is on the scene.
DailyMail.com has reached out to the Jefferson Gun Outlet for additional information.
According to its website, the Jefferson Gun Outlet is 'the premier firearms outlet for the Greater New Orleans Area' and offers 'FULL AUTO Machine Gun Experiences' at its indoor 25-yard firing range with 14 lanes.
Guns and ammunition are sold in the front of the outlet that faces a main thoroughfare through Jefferson Parish. Customers who want to frequent the gun range generally go around to the side entrance of the building. Staff who work there often wear a sidearm.
A neighboring Taco Bell had been evacuated.
The shootout comes just months after a deadly Christmas Eve shooting left two men dead in Metairie, Fox News reported.
During that encounter, cops responded to reports of possible gunfire and found the victims dead in a car outside an apartment building, according to the outlet.
Four men were shot, killing two of them, in Metaire two weeks before the Christmas Eve incident.
A gunman walked into Jefferson Gun Outlet in Metairie before 3pm and opened fire, seen in a Google Maps street view
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