Randall County Sheriff's Office Provides More Details on Walmart Hostage Situation

This morning, around 11:00 a.m., a hostage situation arose in Amarillo, Texas at the Walmart located on I-27 and Georgia. 

Amarillo Police Department and several other agencies were called to a shots fired call at the Walmart. There are reports of an armed subject inside of the Walmart, who may have hostages. 

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 As of now, the shooter is believed to be a former Walmart employee and has taken a manager hostage. It is not clear right now if the armed subject has taken anyone else as a hostage or if anyone has been injured. 

APD is evacuating people out of the west side of the building. More details will be released once available.

Update: 1:10 p.m.

According to officials at the scene, a SWAT team shot the suspect who took the hostages at Walmart, including a manager. The suspect is reported dead, but the hostages appear to be safe.

Previously, police said they were searching for a Somali man wearing khaki pants.

Update 2:45 p.m.

Danny Alexander, public information officer for the Randall County Sheriff's Office, said, "We had a work place violence situation happen at the Walmart in Amarillo. Apparently, a disgruntled employee entered the store [at] around 11:05 a.m. and fired one round off in the air. He then took one or more hostages into an office."

The Sheriff's Department, in mutual aid with the Amarillo Police Department, responded with SWAT and other agencies to secure and isolated the scene. They began clearing the store of customers and employees. 

As the suspect held the hostages in the office, a negotiation began between officials and the suspect.

"Sometime during the negotiation, SWAT officers did go ahead and get a shot. They did shoot and kill the suspect," said Alexander.

After the suspect was shot, hostages were released safely.

As of now, the streets surrounding Walmart have been released and are available to drive on. However, the Walmart store and parking lot is still secured due to taking the witness statements of the employees and customers.