Stop & Shop Shooting: Who is Gabriel Dewitt Wilson? One dead, 2 injured in West Hempstead store attack
Update: Gabriel DeWitt Wilson, suspected of shooting three workers on Tuesday at an office inside a Long Island grocery store was arrested hours after fleeing, police said.
He was taken into custody around 3:15 pm at an apartment building about 2 miles from the store, Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder said.
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WEST HAMPSTEAD, LONG ISLAND: A mass shooting at a grocery store in West Hampstead has left one person dead and two injured as per the latest reports by NBC New York. Around 11:15 am on Tuesday, April 20, 2021, police officers responded to a report of shots being fired inside a supermarket at Cherry Valley Road. Multiple people were inside and shot by a masked gunman. The deceased person has been identified as a 49-year-old employee of the store. Gabriel Dewitt Wilson was identified as a person of interest, Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder told reporters.
The incident took place at a 'Stop & Shop' outlet. An employee told CBS2 that they heard five to six shots being fired at the upper level of the store near the manager's office. Panic has spread through the area as the gunman has fled the scene and is yet to be caught.
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What happened at Stop & Shop store?
Schools in the area have been ordered to lock down and have their buildings secured, while several remain inside. Nassau County Executive Laura Curran stated, "There has been an active shooter incident at a West Hempstead Stop & Shop. Police are canvassing the area and schools nearby have been notified to lock down and secure their buildings. Nassau County PD is asking all area residents to remain indoors. Suspect is not yet apprehended.”
"Incredibly frightening. Nobody knew what was going on. Just ran out the back of the store," said a witness. Speaking about the store employees, they said, "They’re all quite traumatized. When is this going to stop?”
There has been an active shooter situation at the West Hempstead Stop & Shop. The #NassauCountyPD is canvassing the area & nearby schools have been notified to lock down & secure their buildings. The subject has not been apprehended yet & we ask that area residents remain indoors
— NCPD (@NassauCountyPD) April 20, 2021
Who is Gabriel Dewitt Wilson?
Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder told reporters Gabriel Dewitt Wilson was identified as a person of interest. "That person of interest we believe is the shooter," Ryder said. "He left the scene and he was still carrying the handgun." He added: "He was wearing all black."
The gunman executed the attack with a face mask on while dressed in a black sweatshirt and a black baseball hat. Eyewitness accounts state that he might be 30-year-old, 6 feet 2 inches tall, and carried a black handgun, according to a CBS New York report. Reports say that Wilson “was inside an upstairs manager's office when he pulled a small handgun and opened fire.”
The suspect reportedly fled the store immediately after the shooting. He is believed to have jumped on a nearby bus for escaping out of sight. He was last spotted heading west on the Hempstead Turnpike. Wilson has a criminal record and had been taken into custody previously in Nassau County for a mental health evaluation, Ryder said. Wilson was involved in a shooting in Baltimore seven years to the day before the April 20 supermarket shooting, records show. According to police, Wilson and another man fired shots at each other and were hospitalized with lower body wounds. Attempted murder charges against Wilson in that case were later dropped, records show.
More details will be updated as the story develops.