Wal-Mart comments on weekend shooting in Las Vegas, accident in New Jersey
New York — Wal-Mart Stores found itself at the center of two national news stories this past weekend, both of which involved fatalities.
On Saturday, June 7, a truck driver for Walmart was charged in the highway crash that left comedian Tracy Morgan critically injured and killed one of Morgan’s associates, comedian James McNair.
Driver Kevin Roper, 35, was charged with four counts of assault by auto and one count of death by auto after the tractor-trailer truck he was driving for the retailer allegedly swerved to miss an auto on the New Jersey Turnpike and instead struck a limousine bus Morgan and several other comedians were traveling in, flipping it over.
New Jersey State Police are investigating the crash, which also caused a chain reaction accident with another tractor trailer truck, an SUV and two cars. No passengers in any of the other cars were injured.
"The facts are continuing to unfold,” Walmart U.S. president and CEO Bill Simon said in a statement. “If it's determined that our truck caused the accident, Walmart will take full responsibility. Safety is our absolute highest priority, but that is no comfort whatsoever to the families and friends who are suffering today. We offer them our deepest condolences. We can't change what happened, but we will do what's right for the family of the victim and the survivors in the days and weeks ahead."
On Sunday, June 8, a shooting spree that began with the killing of two police officers in a Las Vegas CiCi’s Pizza location ended with the deaths of a customer and both alleged shooters inside a Wal-Mart across the street.
At about 11:30 a.m. on Sunday, June 8, an unidentified man and woman entered the Cici’s Pizza and ambushed Metro Las Vegas police offers Alyn Beck, 41 and Igor Soldo, 31, fatally shooting both and taking their weapons.
Witnesses reported the shooters said, “Tell the police the revolution has begun,” before crossing the street and entering a Wal-Mart where they barricaded themselves, killing an unidentified customer and engaging in a gun battle with SWAT team members who responded to the scene. The female shooter eventually shot the male shooter and turned the gun on herself in what police said was a suicide pact.
Motive in the attack is still not clear, although media reports indicate the shooters were a married couple in their 20s who may have had white supremacist links, and police have not identified the shooters or the other victim.
"We express our deepest condolences to everyone who has been affected by this senseless act of violence," said Wal-Mart spokesman Brooke Buchanan.
Wal-Mart also said it is working with police in the investigation and CiCi’s Pizza said it is saddened by the events and has the Las Vegas store closed until further notice.