KEY POINTS

  • A police officer was among five dead at a Missouri gas station shooting
  • The gunman was also found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound
  • There has been a series of shootings in the state over the past few weeks

The gunman who opened fire at a gas station in Springfield, Missouri, was found by police officers dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot after he killed four others, including one police officer who first responded to the scene.

According to the Associated Press, Springfield police Chief Paul Williams said that authorities were alerted about “multiple shooting calls throughout the city” on Sunday, but the ambush shooting that took place at the Kum & Go. gas station occurred on Monday.

Witnesses said that a vehicle crashed into the said gas station that has an adjacent convenience store. The gunman then barged inside the convenience store and opened fired on staff and shoppers.

The two officers who first responded to the scene were officer Josiah Overton and officer Christopher Walsh. An Army veteran, Walsh has since succumbed to his injuries at the hospital. Overton, on the other hand, was injured but is stable.

Williams said the authorities are still looking into a potential motive of the shooting that killed three other civilians. The identities of the three other victims have yet to be revealed as their relatives have yet to be notified.

The latest shooting is just part of a string of shootings across Missouri since earlier this year as the country battles against the novel coronavirus.

Last Friday night, St. Louis police were notified about a double shooting in the Columbus Square neighborhood wherein a woman and a man were found with gunshot wounds, with the man being identified as Travis Hamilton, CBS affiliate KMOV reported.

The two victims were transported to the hospital, with the female victim having been listed under critical condition, while Hamilton later passed away. Police have encouraged residents with information about the shootings to contact the local police.

Last month, 17-year-old Servando Padilla was charged in the double shooting of two other teenagers for what authorities referred to as a drug deal that go as the suspect planned.

According to FOX affiliate KTVI, the two victims went to a Robertsville address at Sunset Avenue to sell marijuana but upon their arrival, two other teens confronted them, with one of the suspects holding a firearm.

Police raided the said address and took Servando into custody. He is faced with multiple charges including serious physical injury and felony attempted robbery.

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