Three dead after gunman opens fire on Idaho In-N-Out
At least three people are dead, and others were injured in a tragic shooting that took place at an In-N-Out located in Twin Falls, Idaho.
The shooter is among those who perished, according to the city’s public information officer, Josh Palmer.
All shelter-in-place restrictions have also been lifted, as Twin Falls Police Chief Matthew Hicks told reporters on Saturday (August 1): “We believe that the threat to the community is over.”
Duane Rubink, chief of the neighboring Jerome Police Department, said to CNN: “It appears there was one shooter who is deceased from a self-inflicted gunshot.”
The scene is currently under investigation.
This In-N-Out branch had only been open for a week in Twin Falls, raking in the customers before the horrific shooting over the weekend.
Videos posted on social media showed workers running away from the restaurant in a panic, with numerous gunshots heard.
What happened at the In-N-Out?
The shooter launched his rampage inside the burger joint at around 2 PM local time before heading outside, revealing his identity to witnesses who were recording the incident.
According to Hicks, local law enforcement is working to finalize the number of people injured, though they did not reveal how many people were involved.
Investigators are working to identify the shooter and work out what the motive was.
Authorities shut down the Perrine Bridge and surrounding roads, while businesses in a nearby mall were placed on lockdown.
In-N-Out President Lynsi Snyder released a statement following the shooting, revealing that an associate lost her life in the shooting.
Snyder wrote: “We lost one of our beautiful Associates tonight, she was taking care of our most important asset — our customers, and her life was taken by a disgusting human who doesn’t value the lives of others or his own.
“He shot both on our property and off, and ended his life shortly after he took the previous lives of our Associate and Customers, innocent people, who never saw it coming.”
COO Denny Warnick also released a statement, saying: “We are heartbroken, our prayers go out to our Customers, our Associates, and all of their families.
“We are working with the Twin Falls Police Department to assist in the on-going investigation.”
Witnesses saw the incident unfold
Lane Koehn, 34, told the Associated Press that he saw everything happen while he was stopped at a traffic light near the fast food joint.
He said that he saw a person carrying an AR-style rifle in the drive-thru area, before a man with a pistol started to fire at the suspect.
The witness said that an employee moved to help a wounded co-worker, dragging the wounded woman across the parking lot.
Koehn, the employee, and the man with the pistol stayed with her until medical support arrived, as he recalled: “She was pretty bad off, but I don’t know. I hope she made it.”
He thinks that there were around three or four shots fired, with it not being clear if someone was targeted in particular.
Police responded to calls from the area as what was called an active shooter situation.
Numerous videos taken by witnesses in the area show a man with a black T-shirt and blue pants standing between two Teslas before aiming a firearm at the driver’s-side window of one of the vehicles.
Two shots were made, before the man lowered the weapon and walked away, before starting to run across the parking lot with the rifle.
People can be heard panicking and running for shelter in videos of the incident, as many fled the area.