Shots fired at Toys R Us in Palm Desert; 2 dead

Shots rang out today inside a Toys R Us store in Palm Desert, killing two and causing shoppers at the busy store to scramble for cover.

Palm Desert Councilman Bob Spiegel told The Times that based on early reports, two rival groups shopping at the store had some kind of argument and then shots were fired. Two men were killed in the exchange of gunfire, he said.

Sara Frahm, 25, of La Quinta was shopping for electronic toys at the time of the shooting. She told The Times she heard two women fighting and swearing in an aisle next to her. She said employees went to break up the fight and that all of the sudden a number of people yelled, "He has a gun!" She said she heard six or seven shots.

Mike Stitt of Yucca Valley was shopping with his wife and two children when he saw two women fighting and calling each other names. Both were with men. One of the men pulled out a gun and shot it in the air, then shot the other man in the back, Stitt told The Times.

In a statement, Toys R Us stressed that the shooting appeared to stem from a "personal dispute."

"We are outraged by the act of violence that occurred this afternoon in Palm Desert, CA, and by the fact that anyone would compromise the safety and security of our customers and employees," the statement said. "Our understanding is that this act seems to have been the result of a personal dispute between the individuals involved. Therefore, it would be inaccurate to associate the events of today with Black Friday."

Riverside County sheriff and fire officials responded to a report of the shooting at 11:32 a.m. at the toy store in the Desert Crossing Shopping Center at 72314 Highway 111, said Cheri Patterson, information officer for the Riverside County Fire Department and Cal Fire, based in Perris.

Dennis Gutierrez of the Riverside County Sheriff's Department confirmed the fatalities but said detectives were still trying to figure out what happened. He said no arrests have been made and no weapons have been recovered.

"This was an incident between these two individuals," he said.

Details about the shooting were still spotty, but witnesses said the scene at the store and nearby businesses was chaotic.

"We had a bunch of people who came in around noon," Jeff Valare, manager at the World Gym across the street from the Toys R Us, told The Times. "They looked distressed. One woman had an infant in her arms and was crying. They were telling us they heard five or six gunshots. They were inside the Toys R Us and fled out the back."

Glenn Splain, another worker at the gym, told the Associated Press that some Toys R Us customers "were crying, tearing and shaking. ... Some people got into a fight. ... One of the guys here thought it was over a toy, but it got louder and louder and then there were gunshots."

Saul Diaz, who works as an assistant manager at the Jiffy Lube next door to the Toys R Us, said he was speaking with a customer when a stampede of 45 people ran in. Some looked distraught, some were crying.

"They were running fast, straight into the car bays. There was a couple of ladies with little kids, about 3 years [old]. They were all pale. The kids were shouting, 'Mom, I'm scared.' We immediately closed the store," Diaz told The Times. His staff locked the front doors and closed the car bays. "We took everyone into a basement bay, where we keep inventory," he said.

The Desert Sun quoted a Palm Desert city official as saying the shooting might have been caused by bad blood between two groups of shoppers. "There were two groups inside that had issue with each other," said Assistant City Manager Sheila Gilligan. "And the two men inside pulled their weapons and shot each other."

Daniel Watson told KPSP-TV that his wife was shopping at the store and called him on her cellphone about the time the shooting began. "She was scared, you know, and she told me to tell the kids that she loved them," Watson said. He told the station that his wife hid under a clothes rack.

-- Michelle Maltais, Richard Winton, Molly Hennessy-Fiske and Andrew Blankstein

VIDEO: Video of the shooting scene from KESQ-TV.

PHOTOS: Photo gallery of the shooting scene from The Desert Sun.

Comments

[cmgrigg]

What exactly does conceal and carry do to help this situation? America common sense has left the building.

[Steve]

What PC from the LA times.."bad blood between two groups of shoppers" ..... can we assume that is politically correct speech for saying two rival gangs were in the store and they decided to settle issues?"

LAT will never report if it's Brown on Brown gangs or Black on Brown gangs, but you can bet it wasn't Mormon missionaries collecting for the defense of Prop 8 and a bunch of West Hollywood types shooting it out.

[T]

THIS IS NO SUPRISE PEOPLE LOOK AROUND YOU.
(2 Timothy 3:1-7) 3 But know this, that in the last days critical times hard to deal with will be here. 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, self-assuming, haughty, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, disloyal, 3 having no natural affection, not open to any agreement, slanderers, without self-control, fierce, without love of goodness, 4 betrayers, headstrong, puffed up [with pride], lovers of pleasures rather than lovers of God, 5 having a form of godly devotion but proving false to its power; and from these turn away. 6 For from these arise those men who slyly work their way into households and lead as their captives weak women loaded down with sins, led by various desires, 7 always learning and yet never able to come to an accurate knowledge of truth.

(Matthew 24:36-40) 36 “Concerning that day and hour nobody knows, neither the angels of the heavens nor the Son, but only the Father. 37 For just as the days of Noah were, so the presence of the Son of man will be. 38 For as they were in those days before the flood, eating and drinking, men marrying and women being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark; 39 and they took no note until the flood came and swept them all away, so the presence of the Son of man will be.
WE ARE LIVING IN DAYS OF NOAH.... NO ONE IS TAKING NOTE AGAIN....
THERE ARE THOSE THAT ARE FULLY AWARE... AND BECAUSE WE ARE TAKING NOTE OF BIBLE PROPHECY WE ARE PREPARED.

[marian]

I read the back of an american greeting card..made in china! AMERICAN greetings.yeah..that should warm americans hearts..why does the government or anyone ask why our economy is so downhill and washed up??because American companies and paychecks.. are really in China...what a shame..and shame that our ..government ,whoever..lets the companies get away with it..someone else said we are like a third world country..we really will be if american companies take more americans jobs to china..maybe its already too late ,china will rule and we will be peons..about the toy store shooting...people are becoming more like cavemen...and I guess they let anybody live in palm desert nowdays.

[asanath]

Tom, no, actually you despise us perhaps, but the world? Not really. At least, not those rational beings that are not simply attaching their misanthropic views to selective groups of humans as you appear to be. By the by, these sorts of incidents happen world wide in case you haven't noticed....it's not an American thing, it's a human thing.

[George]

So they shot each other like a western? pulled out their guns at exactly the same time and died together?

[Margie Gignac]

This is truly a very bad sign of the times. So much hate, so much greed. Why can't we all get along? Is a Made in China toy worth shooting someone for?

[Gertrude D. Needlemeir]

Well, that sucks.

Electronics isle? were they fighting over who got the last Furby/Tickle Me Elmo/Tamagotchi/Nintendo Whatsitcalled?

People are animals when it comes to crap like that, which is why I didn't go out today.

A man was crushed under a door at another department store, an Employee.

I'm somewhat disappointed in Humanity when they act like rabid dogs trying to get the last scrap of meat that is a Black Friday Sale, or any other major Sale.

#1 Reason why I don't like shopping.

[Chip Young]

Was it necessary for the store to say it wasn't related to Black Friday?

[joel palmer]

Well since it apopears that both deceased were gang members, police will find NHI (no humans involved)

Where is the outrage? When will community leaders act? Or are several generations likely to thin the ranks by gunshots?

[John Davis]

Rival groups? Oh you mean Rival Gangs.
Why is it that the only people that can carry guns are Gang members?
It is time to allow honest citizens to carry weapons to allow us to defend ourselves against these evil thugs.

[joel palmer]

Thinning the herd!

[BrainDeadUnite]

Ho, ho, ho Meeeerrrry Christmas! Some of your comments are an absolute hoot and quite creative. Keep em' coming.... at least until God decides to bestow His blessings upon the soon-to-a-reality-near-you nuclear holocaust and bake this nut-house to a deserving crisp! Ho, ho, ho....

[BrainDeadUnite]

Hey Jeremiah Haynes, you that desperate for some answer? Will this do: all of you people live your puny existance in some kind of self-adoring bubble, you lie, steal, kill and even bop each other in the A** for sexual entertainment, you pervert holidays into mass rampages for Chinese made trinkets and with all of this behavior you basically piss on Gods sandals then you wrack your feeble little brains in wonder why life is so out of balance. Hmmmmnnn????
Like mentioned in my previous post here, keep the funny stuff rolling, being than this planet is running on short time all you got left is the few laughs you can extract out of your own stupidity. Shop on retards, at this rate "Black Friday" is well underway to meet 'Bloody Red Saturday'.

[Neighbor]

Two down...a few thousand more to go. Were getting there.

[UltimateToronto.com]

When you need to bring a gun into the local toy store, you really need to self-evaluate your life.

[Shopping Warrior]

Sure it's good if the violent criminals kill each other, but not in my backyard toy store! Instead of just theft detectors, there should be metal detectors and homeland security barriers and checkpoints so people who are psychopathic criminals do not bring their violence to our family stores! All criminals convicted of murder beyond a doubt, should be executed by firing squads of others waiting to be executed in prison! Then if they are illegal immigrants who happen to have committed murder, their carcass should be repatriated to their home country in the cheapest cargo space available to save tax-payer money.

Those hateful and sick criminals must be eradicated from society for the good of humanity!

[Slim]

If only Barrack Obama was there, he could bring the dead back to life and make sure everyone gets a free toy at the store's expense.

Posted by: Richard Stanke | November 28, 2008 at 01:31 PM

Stanke, Dick,

bitter much ?

[rfkolbe]

Anyone ready to talk about too many HANDGUNS yet?

[George Busch]

Where was Homeland Security? I thought this was one of their responsibilities?

[Elder Loki]

This is darwinism in action. Two idiots shoot each other in a Toys R Us and spare us their moronic progeny. Good riddance. At least no REAL people were hurt. On a side note, who the heck brings a gun to a Toys R Us anyway? Maybe he had a raging giraffe phobia. Nah, probrably just an idiot.

[mzfitz]

TOO MANY GUNS IN THIS WORLD. WE CAN'T STOP STUPID PEOPLE FROM BEING STUPID BUT WE CAN STOP THEM FROM USING GUNS IF GUNS ARE CONTROLLED. TOO MANY GUNS AND TOO MANY ANGRY LOW LIFES

[Jack]

Scorecard

Gangbangers = 0
Darwin = 2

[Tdog]

"Our understanding is that this act seems to have been the result of a personal dispute between the individuals involved. Therefore, it would be inaccurate to associate the events of today with Black Friday."

Like most shootings, the people involved knew each other.

Posted by: Drewbob | November 28, 2008 at 01:23 PM

"Good reason more people should have concealed gun permits AND carry"

We can only hope that everyone who would pull out a gun in anger will take each other out in this fashion, but unfortunately, it is the innocent who usually suffer. It's catch-22. The people who would be best suited to carry concealed weapon are the ones who do not want to.

[Tdog]

"Our understanding is that this act seems to have been the result of a personal dispute between the individuals involved. Therefore, it would be inaccurate to associate the events of today with Black Friday."

Like most shootings, the people involved knew each other.

Posted by: Drewbob | November 28, 2008 at 01:23 PM

"Good reason more people should have concealed gun permits AND carry"

We can only hope that everyone who would pull out a gun in anger will take each other out in this fashion, but unfortunately, it is the innocent who usually suffer. It's catch-22. The people who would be best suited to carry concealed weapon are the ones who do not want to.