Three people, including a sheriff’s deputy, were injured in a gun battle at a Walmart in Virginia on Saturday, authorities said.
The deputy, who has not been identified, and two Walmart security employees were hospitalized with serious but not life-threatening injuries, Loudoun County Sheriff Mike Chapman told a news conference.
The suspect, who was also not identified, was arrested in nearby Fairfax County after being pursued, he said. He was admitted to hospital because he was hit in the shooting, the sheriff said.
It began when Walmart security personnel at Dulles Crossing Plaza in Sterling, Virginia, “escorted” the suspect to their office after he allegedly stole items from the store.
The two employees, who are described by authorities as loss prevention officers, called delegates to arrest him for alleged theft of crimes, Chapman said.
When the responding couple of deputies tried to arrest the suspect, he resisted, pulled a gun out of his waistband and opened fire inside the security office.
“He finally hit the loss prevention officers once in each of their legs, as far as we know,” the sheriff said. “One of our two deputies was shot and beaten several times.”
The other deputy fired back and hit the man, but that was not enough to stop him from running to the parking lot, where he got a pickup truck with the keys inside and drove off, Chapman said.
Deputies pursued him and law enforcement from other agencies, including Virginia police, helped, the sheriff said. At one point, authorities lost the suspect and a police helicopter was called in to help locate him, Chapman said.
The man was finally found after “crashing” on the truck and he was arrested before being admitted to hospital, the sheriff said.
