Palm Desert (California): Two people were shot to death in a crowded toy store in a confrontation apparently involving rival groups, city officials said.
Palm Desert Councilman Jim Ferguson said police told him two men with handguns shot and killed each other yesterday. Ferguson said he asked police whether the incident was a dispute over a toy or whether it was gang-related. He said police told him they were not going to release further details until the victims relatives were notified.
"I think the obvious question everyone has is who takes loaded weapons into a Toys "R" Us?" he said. "I doubt it was the casual holiday shopper." The day after the US Thanksgiving holiday, is traditionally the first day of the holiday shopping season.
City spokeswoman Sheila Gilligan said police told her the shooting broke out between "two groups of individuals that have a dispute with each other."
The Palm Desert Police Department received calls of shots fired around 11:35 am, Riverside County sheriff's Sgt Dennis Gutierrez said. He said officers were still investigating what prompted the gunshots.
Toys "R" Us issued a statement expressing outrage over the violence.
Sarah Pacia of Cathedral City told The Desert Sun newspaper she was in the store with her two boys, ages 4 and 6, looking at colouring books when she heard a commotion in the next aisle. She thought it was people rushing to get a sale item. Then she heard three or four shots.
She said she froze, and store employees calmly escorted her out of the store.
