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Las Vegas, NV – Police have released 911 and bodycam recordings of a gunfight with a retail store loss prevention greeter who was upset about a customer leaving a shopping cart by the business’s front doors.
The incident occurred at the Ross Dress for Less store on Blue Diamond Road just after 4 p.m. on Aug. 11, while 37-year-old Mohamed Mahmoud was working as a loss prevention greeter for the business, KVVU reported.
According to the store’s policy, customers are not allowed to remove shopping carts from inside the store, KTNV reported.
So, when another employee sent him a walkie-talkie message letting him know that a customer with a large purchase would be leaving her cart by the front door in order to get her vehicle, Mahmoud became upset.
The loss prevention greeter asked about the policy violation over the radio, at which point a store manager told him, over the store’s radio system, to stop complaining, KVVU reported.
In what Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Assistant Sheriff Charles Hank described in a Tuesday press conference as a “case of isolated workplace violence,” Mahmoud stormed towards the supervisor at the checkout area and began yelling at her as he slammed his hand on the register, KTNV reported.
After he admonished his supervisor for disrespecting him, she instructed him to go wait for her in the employee break room so they could discuss the issue out of the presence of nearby customers.
When another supervisor attempted to intervene in the verbal altercation, Mahmoud also “became irate” with him, KTNV reported.
“I will kill you both,” Mahmoud allegedly vowed, throwing his vest on the floor and pointing his finger at each of his supervisors.
He then walked out of the building and went to his vehicle, where he retrieved his handgun, KVVU reported.
Mahmoud fired a round into the air in the busy parking lot before he re-entered the store, which was packed with back-to-school shoppers.
Once inside, he fired a round into the ceiling, then began hunting down the female manager, eventually firing a total of five bullets at her as she ran from him throughout the store.
The 911 center received a flood of calls regarding the active shooter situation, and police responded to the scene in droves.
Just three minutes after the first call was received, the first officer arrived at the store to find Mahmoud walking out.
Mahmoud fired multiple rounds at the officer, and opened fire on a second officer, 47-year-old Officer Byron Bunitsky, when he arrived two minutes later.
Bodycam footage showed Officer Bunitsky as he took cover behind a palm tree approximately 50 yards away from the gunman.
A moment later, the 19-year veteran of the force expertly fired five rounds, striking the suspect once in his hip, KVVU reported
Mahmoud collapsed onto the pavement, where an off-duty Nye County Sheriff’s deputy and two off-duty Las Vegas Metro police officers helped take him into custody.
The gunman was transported to a local hospital, where he was listed in stable condition following surgery, Sheriff Hank said.
According to the sheriff, Mahmoud had no criminal history, and appeared to have “snapped” during the incident.
“The suspect in this event showed absolutely no regard for the safety of anyone in the area,” he said.
He has been charged with three counts of assault with a deadly weapon, discharging a firearm in an occupied structure, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon on a protected person, and five counts of attempted murder with a deadly weapon.
Investigators determined that Mahmoud fired a total of 16 rounds from his 9mm handgun during the attack.
Sheriff Hank commended Officer Bunitsky for his actions during the chaotic encounter.
“I believe our officer involved in the shooting acted courageously and with impressive accuracy based on the distance of the shots fired,” the sheriff said.
No one but Mahmoud was injured during the incident, police said.
You can watch Officer Bunitsky’s gunfight with the shooter below: