Officials: Former Employee Identified as Deadly Walmart Distribution Center Shooting Suspect

A truck leaves a large regional Walmart distribution center in Washington, Utah, on June 6, 2019. George Frey/Getty Images

Local officials released the identity of a suspect who crashed his vehicle into a Walmart distribution center in Red Bluff, California, before opening fire, killing one employee and injuring several others.

Louis Lane, 31, was identified as the lone gunman in the shooting, according to the Tehama County Sheriff’s Department. Lane had worked for the distribution center before he was fired from the company in 2019 after failing to show up for his shift, the department wrote.

Lane was wounded during a shootout with Red Bluff police officers in the Walmart center’s parking lot on Saturday afternoon. He was later pronounced dead at a nearby hospital, officials told CBS San Francisco.

“One Red Bluff Police officer and one sergeant used their duty rifles and shot at the suspect, ultimately stopping the threat,” the Red Bluff Police Department wrote in a statement. It added that no officers were hurt during the shooting.

“Based on evidence at the scene, video surveillance and witness statements investigators determined Lane acted alone,” the sheriff’s department said in a statement.

Lane is accused of killing 45-year-old Martin Haro-Lozano and injuring four others, Tehama County Assistant Sheriff Phil Johnston told a news conference on Saturday.

A Google Maps photo shows the Walmart distribution center in Red Bluff, California. Google Maps

Johnston said that Lane used a semi-automatic rifle and an illegally large ammunition magazine, according to the Redding Record-Searchlight.

California has some of the strictest gun laws in the United States, including an assault weapons ban, registration requirements, a 10-day waiting period on gun purchases, a limit on the number of guns one can buy each month, gun confiscation laws, background checks on purchasing ammunition, and other requirements.

Scott Thammakhanty, an employee at the distribution center, told the Redding Record-Searchlight that he heard the shooting unfold.

“It went on and on—I don’t even know how many times he fired,” Thammakhanty said. “I just know it was a lot.”

Vince Krick, whose wife and son work at the facility, told the outlet he saw flames as he drove up to the distribution center.

“It was real crazy, because, you know, you can’t do nothing,” Krick said.

A Walmart spokesman told CNN that the firm is aware of the incident and is working with local law enforcement officials. In a statement, the company said it is “deeply saddened by this tragic incident.”

“Our focus is on supporting our associates, as well as their families and coworkers in the facility,” it said.

Red Bluff is located about 130 miles north of Sacramento, the state capital.