Gunman Kills 2 at Market in Long Beach

A gunman opened fire in a Long Beach supermarket Thursday afternoon, killing a woman and a 7-year-old girl and wounding four others before he was fatally shot by police, investigators said.

Shortly before 11 p.m., officers found two badly decomposed bodies in the suspect’s home at 439 Cedar Ave., which faces the Top Valu Market at 4th Street and Pacific Avenue. Investigators were not able to determine the victims’ age or gender.

“The bodies were located in one room and the suspect appeared to occupy the other bedroom,” said Sgt. Steve Filippini of the Long Beach Police Department.

Police did not know how long the bodies had been in the apartment.

The gunfire at the Top Valu Market erupted about 5:30 p.m., police said.

Detectives said it was not known why the man began shooting, but a Top Valu employee, who was not in the store, said there were unconfirmed reports that the man, who had two handguns, became enraged after a clerk refused to cash his check.

“It’s absolutely an unfortunate and traumatic thing that happened here. A 7-year-old lost her life and the police officers that responded were also forced to take a life,” said Filippini.

“We are talking to witnesses and anyone who knew him.”

Police said the suspect was 35 years old, but he was not further identified. He was taken to St. Mary Medical Center, where he died late Thursday.

Fire Department officials said the girl and woman killed in the store were not believed to be related. Victims’ identities were not released, but police said most of them were thought to be customers.

A 28-year-old man was listed in very serious condition at St. Mary Medical Center. A 58-year-old woman was in stable condition at the center. A man and woman in their 40s were treated and released from Long Beach Memorial Medical Center, hospital officials said.

Police were having difficulty piecing together what happened after the gunman entered the store. Detectives said they had not ruled out the possibility that he might have been attempting a robbery.

Joe LaRocque, 30, who lives across the street in a second-floor apartment, said he had walked out onto his balcony to smoke a cigarette when he noticed that the Top Valu parking lot was unusually empty.

“It looked like a ghost town,” he said.

LaRocque said he then saw a store security guard crouching at a corner of the building, talking with two Long Beach police officers who had just arrived. Moments later, LaRocque said, the two officers walked into the store with guns drawn.

“The officers yelled, ‘Get on the ground, now!’” LaRocque said. “Then there were gunshots.... It was a cacophony, a quick burst of several shots.”

LaRocque said he couldn’t see inside the store, so he didn’t know exactly what happened--whether police fired all those shots or the gunman fired back.

Moments later, he said, more police stormed the store. Within minutes, he said, ambulances arrived and began rushing the wounded to nearby hospitals.

“It was very chaotic,” said Andy Busch, a spokesman for the Long Beach Fire Department. “People were working to secure the scene to make sure there were no other suspects running around.

“We needed so many ambulances,” he said. “Five gunshot victims, that’s pretty rare.”

All witnesses were bused to the Long Beach police station immediately after the shooting. At 11:30 p.m., a man who had been entering the store when the shooting started returned to the Top Valu parking lot in hopes of retrieving his car.

“I have no idea why he started and I don’t think anyone else knows,” said the man, who did not want to give his name. “I feel sorry for that woman and the baby that died.”

On Jan. 19, an argument at the Top Valu supermarket between a schizophrenic woman and store workers ended a few blocks away when police officers fatally shot Marcella Byrd, 57, after she allegedly raised a knife as if to throw it at them.

Police said Byrd had tried to leave the market without paying and was confronted by store workers, whom she allegedly threatened, before leaving.

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Times staff writers Sandra Murillo, Hector Becerra and Eric Malnic contributed to this report.