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Gunman Wounds 2 Before Being Fatally Shot At Walmart In Tumwater

Austin Jenkins via twitter
Police tape blocks off part of a parking lot at the Walmart in Tumwater, after a shooting and attempted carjacking. Police say the shooter was killed by an armed bystander.

A suspected gunman is dead after a shooting spree in Tumwater that injured at least two people.

The alleged shooter fired multiple shots inside a crowded Walmart, sending customers fleeing.

He then tried to hijack two cars in the parking lot, where he was shot and killed by an armed bystander, according to Tumwater police.

The gunman had shot the man while attempting to hijack his car. 

The carjacking victim was flown by helicopter to Harborview Medical Center in critical condition.

Police are investigating four scenes connected with the shooting. The chain of events began with a report of a drunken driver, but none was found. Tumwater police spokeswoman Laura Wohl told The Olympianthat officers then responded to reports of shots nearby and learned that a man had tried to carjack two vehicles.

A 16-year-old girl was injured in the carjacking attempt. The gunman then went to Walmart, Wohl said.

Since January 2004, Austin Jenkins has been the Olympia-based political reporter for the Northwest News Network. In that position, Austin covers Northwest politics and public policy as well as the Washington State legislature. You can also see Austin on television as host of TVW's (the C–SPAN of Washington State) Emmy-nominated public affairs program "Inside Olympia." Prior to joining the Northwest News Network, Austin worked as a television reporter in Seattle, Portland and Boise. Austin is a graduate of Garfield High School in Seattle and Connecticut College in New London, Connecticut. Austin’s reporting has been recognized with awards from the Association of Capitol Reporters and Editors, Public Radio News Directors Incorporated and the Society of Professional Journalists.