Florida grocery store shooter made Fb threats, sheriff says – KIRO 7 Information Seattle

ROYAL PALM BEACH, Florida – The man who fatally shot and killed a woman and her one-year-old grandson in a Florida supermarket had posted threats on social media to kill people, including children, but no one reported him, authorities said on Friday with.

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Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said Friday that Timothy J. Wall, 55, who killed the 69-year-old woman and her grandson in a Publix supermarket in Royal Palm Beach on Thursday morning, recently made threats on Facebook WPTV reported the day before filming.

“He said, ‘I want to kill people and children.’ He has friends. Obviously they saw that, ”Bradshaw said at a press conference. “His ex-wife said he acted strange. He thinks he’s being followed. He’s paranoid. Do you think some bloody soul told us about it? No.

“And if it sounds like I’m angry, it’s me.”

Under Florida’s Red Flag Law, a law enforcement agency can request a judge to confiscate the firearms of individuals who have been found to be dangerous to themselves or others and to detain the weapons for a year, according to The Associated Press. This can be extended if an authority proves that the person continues to pose a risk.

The law was enacted after the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland on February 14, 2018.

Wall’s Facebook page was deactivated Thursday, Bradshaw said.

>> 3 dead, including suspects, in a shootout at Publix supermarket in Florida

The woman pushed her grandson into the store in a racing car-shaped cart just after 11 a.m. EDT, according to Palm Beach County’s Sheriff Major Talal Masri. According to the sheriff’s office, Wall entered the store at 11:29 am using a golf putter as a walking stick.

Wall first shot the toddler after following his victims in the grocery aisle, the Sun Sentinel reported. The child’s grandmother grabbed the gun and jammed it in the process. When Wall tried to reload, he pushed the woman to the ground, the newspaper reported. Then he shot her before turning the gun on himself, Masri said.

“(Wall) approaches her around 11:34 am when he draws his gun and walks from one aisle to the next where the child was parked in his little shopping cart. He takes out his gun and fires a shot and kills the child, “Masri told reporters. “He could overwhelm, knock (the woman) to the ground. And he shoots her down while she’s on the ground. “

Masri added that Wall’s truce likely prevented others from getting injured, WPTV reported.

The first emergency call came at 11:35 a.m. EDT, and five minutes later the first reacting deputies arrived at the scene, the TV station reported.

Detectives have found no connection between Wall and the woman, Bradshaw told reporters.

“This is a very fluid investigation,” said Bradshaw. “We go into every single source and talk to every single person. But at the moment we can’t find a connection between him and the family. “

The sheriff’s office said in a tweet on Thursday that the two victims’ families relied on Marsy’s law and would not divulge their names.

Wall has been described as a financially troubled man who once had an office six doors down from Publix, the Sun Sentinel reported. According to court records, Wall had an office suite in the same space.

At one point, he and his then-wife owned a dry cleaner on the square, the newspaper reported.

Wall declared himself penniless according to an affidavit filed during his divorce proceedings in 2017, the Sun Sentinel reported.

The couple’s divorce was granted in 2018, and a judge said Wall could stay at the house until December 2018, the newspaper reported. In May 2019, his ex-wife filed an eviction lawsuit.

The Publix will reopen to the public at 7 a.m. on Saturday, WPTV reported.

Publix spokeswoman Maria Brous said the store was working closely with the sheriff’s office on the investigation and the store was thoroughly cleaned, disinfected and redesigned.

“The tragedy that happened in our store yesterday for the community, for our Publix family and for the families of the victims are with them in our hearts and minds,” said Brous.

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