Cheltenham Walmart, Pennsylvania: Cash Register Scuffle Escalates To Gunfire, Crash, Injuring 8

Two suspects – a man and a woman – were arrested Tuesday for shooting several rounds inside a Walmart store, located at 1000 South Easton Road, Cheltenham Township, Pennsylvania.

The incident took place at 6 p.m. EDT, which left four people with gunshot wounds in their legs. Another victim was also shot, although the nature of the wound was not confirmed by the police. A sixth victim – a pregnant woman – wasn’t shot but was hurt when she fell during the incident.

All six victims were taken to the hospital and were expected to survive.

It all started when two customers got into an altercation near the cash register. The situation escalated when an unidentified man pulled out a gun from a woman’s waistband and fired 10 shots near the checkout line.

Oscar Brown, the father of a woman who was inside the store during the shooting, told NBC10 employees and customers who were inside the store at the time “had to run in the back and barricade themselves in the back.” He also added his daughter called him during the incident, saying she was scared for her life.

“I said, 'Don't worry. God's got your back,’” Brown said.

Darrell Archer, 27, who witnessed the scene while working as a cashier in the store, said he saw a store manager and another cashier had been shot in their legs, and a customer was shot in an arm.

“I only heard the shots,” Archer told Philly. “I wasn’t getting that close.”

Leenie Smith, 51, another employee, said when she heard the gunshots, she “ducked down and ran away and tried to get out of there as fast as I could.”

Officers from 22 police departments from Montgomery County and Philadelphia responded to the Walmart, while the SWAT team went inside the store.

The suspects – the man and woman, who, according to the police, were brother and sister – fled from the scene in a Pontiac Grand Prix. At one point, they tossed the gun they used for the shooting out of the car window and shortly after crashed into a police vehicle on Forrest Avenue and East Sedgwick Street. The police car was empty at the time.

"The officers just got done taking a theft report and saw the vehicle crash into a police vehicle, thinking it was just an auto accident," Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small said.

When responding officers arrived at the scene of the crash and tried taking the suspects into custody, the man resisted arrest. It took more than one officer to finally apprehend him and place him and his sister inside the police car.

After being placed inside a police vehicle, the man tried to break one of the windows by kicking it. He also reportedly brought his cuffed hands in front of him and attacked the police officer. He attacked the officers a second time when the police opened the wagon to question him.

As a result of trying to subdue the male suspect, two officers received minor injuries.

"The driver of that vehicle then exited the Pontiac and tried to run away. Police officers chased him and took him into custody after a very violent struggle," Philadelphia Chief Inspector Scott Small told Fox 10.

According to law enforcement, the male suspect was either on drugs or intoxicated or both. One of the officers had to use a stun gun on him. Both suspects were taken to the hospital.

Investigators recovered the weapon used in the shooting by the suspects near the 8300 block of Cheltenham Avenue. It was not clear if the suspects had been charged at the time of writing this report.