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The two shooters have committed suicide, according to police. Suspects told shoppers they were part of a "revolution" and wanted a shootout with Metro police force - and had a "suicide pact." Their bodies were found in the back of the store.
Details are yet to emerge, but police sources told Las Vegas Review-Journal that the two officers were killed by a man and a woman who approached them at the CiCi's Pizza just before 11:38 am local time.
As the couple was leaving the restaurant, one yelled "This is the start of a revolution!" witnesses report. The shooters stripped the officers of their weapons and ammunition and went into the Walmart at 201 North Nellis.
Inside the Walmart, according to another unconfirmed account, the couple exchanged fire with a citizen who was carrying a concealed gun.
At a news conference at 13:00 deputy Sheriff Kevin McMahill told reporters that the male shooter, described as a tall white man, yelled "everyone get out" before shooting in Walmart. The man and woman then proceed to the back of the store and "there was some kind of suicide pact," McMahill said.
It was reported the shooters were carrying bags so a bomb squad was called to the scene. It's unclear at this time if something was found in the bags.
The emergency dispatcher received a call at 11:50 am claiming an armed men with a rifle and a bullet-proof vest was shooting inside the Walmart. An earlier distress call said that police two officers were down in a pizzeria at Nellis Boulevard and Stewart Avenue, where two unidentified assailants reportedly walked up to two policemen and shot them point blank.
The two Metro officers were eating when one person shot one officer in the head while the second person shot the second officer, Channel 8 news reports, citing police sources. Witnesses claim that the suspects took the police officers' gear, saying before they left the restaurant - "tell the police the revolution has begun."
Police have surrounded the area and ambulances are being summoned to the site. A photographer for News 3 saw three body bags carried out of the store around noon local time on the intersection of North Nellis and Stewart.
My condolences to the families of the officers who were killed but I wonder about how this all happened to transpire and how it will now feed an already paranoid and over-militarized police mentality.