2 dead, several hurt in shooting at US Wal-Mart store

Two people died and several more were injured in a shooting early Tuesday at a Wal-Mart Supercenter store, police said.

Deputy police chief Mike Ferguson would not say if the gunman was arrested, at large or among the dead, but said he believed there was no further risk to the public following the shooting.

Ferguson did not provide names of the dead or say how many have been injured.

Officers responded to reports of gunshots a few minutes after 1 am, he said, adding that officers discovered "multiple victims" and that several of them were taken to a hospital.

It was not immediately clear if the two dead died at the scene or at the hospital.

The store is one of two Wal-Marts in the northeastern North Dakota city of Grand Forks. The store's website says it is open 24 hours. Calls to the store were not immediately answered.

Andy Legg, who was in the store at the time of the shooting, told WDAZ-TV that he heard "popping sounds" shortly before authorities herded him and other customers to a safe section of the store. He said when the group later left the building they passed a Wal-Mart employee who was covered in blood.

A police commando team that responded to the store secured a car in the parking lot about 4:15 am, and officers used a robot to search it, WDAZ-TV reported.