Shocking surveillance video of two police officers ambushed by a gunman inside an Arizona Walmart has been release. It demonstrates how officers barely escaped death, yet stopped the assailant.
The action-packed video shows Chandler officers Joshua Pueblo and Daniel Colwell casually walking into a Walmart after being called about a suspicious person who was trespassing. Without warning, the suspect, who was lurking near the in-store McDonald’s counter, opened fire, striking both officers, according to the Daily Mail.
The suspect, later identified as Mitchell Oakley, is seen running past the officers to escape the store, but drops his gun and then Officer Colwell shoots him.
In the video, Officer Pueblo is seen hitting the ground immediately after being shot in the face, while officer Colwell, who was shot twice at close range, is seen diving across the entryway, drawing his service weapon, and returning fire as the suspect runs by.
After the suspect drops his firearm as he exits the store, Officer Colwell’s additional shots fell him as he scrambles back to retrieve his gun.
Chandler police spokesman Seth Tyler said that the incident “sounds like an ambush to me.”
Officer Pueblo is on medical leave recovering from wounds to the face and arm, but officer Colwell was able to return to duty, presumably because his bullet-proof vest absorbed the blows he received from the would-be killer’s firearm.
Customers were shocked and badly frightened by the sudden storm of lead flying around the store. Walmart employees reported that customers were rounded up and led to the opposite side of the store for safety as police investigated the scene of the attack.
This is not the only recent shooting in an Arizona Walmart. Two men were shot by an unknown attacker in a Glendale Walmart on December 7. Neither shooting victim sustained life-threatening injuries.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com.
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