Arkansas man pleads guilty in 2024 mass shooting at grocery store that killed 4
Travis Eugene Posey, 45, pleaded guilty to four counts of capital murder and 11 counts of attempted capital murder in the June 2024 shooting, according to his attorney. Gregg Parrish, executive director of the Arkansas Public Defender Commission, said Posey's sentencing is set for Aug. 4.
Parrish declined to comment further. The shooting occurred last year at the Mad Butcher grocery store in Fordyce, a city of about 3,200 people located 65 miles (104 kilometers) south of Little Rock.
Posey has been held without bond since the shooting and last year pleaded not guilty to the same charges.
Posey entered the plea during a hearing in Camden, which is located 29 miles (45 kilometers) southwest of Fordyce.
Posey had been scheduled to go to trial next month for the shooting. Prosecutors and police have not publicly identified any motive for Posey, who was shot and injured by officers who exchanged fire with him. Police have said he did not appear to have a personal connection to any of the victims.
During the shooting, which occurred in the middle of the day, Posey carried a 12-gauge shotgun, a pistol and a bandolier with dozens of extra shotgun rounds, authorities said. He fired most, if not all, of the rounds using the shotgun, opening fire at people in the parking lot before entering the store and firing 'indiscriminately' at customers and employees, police said. Multiple gunshot victims were found inside the store and in the parking lot, police said.
Posey lived in New Edinburg, a small town of about 150 people located southeast of Fordyce.
One of the women injured in the shooting has sued Posey, seeking monetary damages to cover medical care, lost earnings and other expenses as a result of the shooting. Attorneys for the woman have requested that a judge enter a default judgment against Posey, as he has not responded to the complaint.
The shooting had temporarily closed the only grocery store in the small town of Fordyce, prompting food distribution sites to be set up around the community. The Mad Butcher reopened 11 days after the shooting.
Authorities have said Posey had limited to no criminal history before the shooting, though he was arrested in 2011 at the entrance of Fort Drum in New York and charged with misdemeanor criminal possession of a weapon.
___
This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Posey's attorney's last name. It should be Parrish, not Parish.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Sun
13 minutes ago
- The Sun
‘Killer who shot dead American Idol exec & husband called 911 in home pretending to be them' 4 days before bodies found
A SUSPECTED shooter called 911 and pretended to be American Idol executive Robin Kaye and her husband after murdering them, prosecutors have claimed. It took four days for cops to find the bodies of Kaye and her songwriter husband Thomas Deluca, both 70, despite them directly speaking with 22-year-old suspect Raymond Boodarian. 6 6 On July 10 at around 4 pm, cops got a 911 call from the couple's neighbor, who said they thought they saw someone breaking into their $3.4 million mansion in Los Angeles, California. Just 40 minutes later, first responders got a second call from a man claiming to be a resident, and he told the operator that they didn't need help from police. At some point during the call, the dispatcher heard someone say "Please don't shoot me" and deployed officers, a search warrant affidavit filed by the Los Angeles Police Department says. According to Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman, the second call was placed by the suspect, who identified himself at some point in the conversation, he told reporters at a briefing on Monday. Jennifer Forkish, the LAPD communications director, said cops raced to the scene and that they deployed a police airship known as Air 16 to survey the property. However, first responders couldn't get into the property because the entrances were locked and no one, including the neighbor, was answering their calls, Forkish said. Officers in the helicopter also couldn't see any sign that a break-in had taken place, so they left the home. Hochman has not explained how or why Boodarian gave his full name. It wasn't until June 14 at around 2:30 pm that officers would find Kaye and Deluca's bodies during a wellness check. A friend of the couple said they hadn't heard from them in several days and gave cops a key card to get inside the wall surrounding their property. American Idol music supervisor Robin Kaye and husband Thomas Deluca both 'murdered inside LA home' When they came to the doors, cops saw signs that something was wrong and burst through a glass window to get inside. Kaye and Deluca were found dead with gunshot wounds to the head. Boodarian was arrested the following day. Investigators found what they believe to be the murder weapon and said it was the couple's own gun. 6 6 6 COMMUNITY TERROR After Boodarian was cuffed, it was revealed he had a violent criminal history, and residents were furious that he was allowed to roam the streets. The suspect, who is from Encino and lived a 13 minute drive from the couple, was charged with battery and exhibiting a deadly weapon over a year before his latest arrest. However, he was deemed mentally incompetent, and the charges were dropped, court documents seen by KABC show. The suspect was also charged with brandishing a knife and making threats against his stepfather in 2023, as well as battery against his mother and sister in 2024. But those charges were also dismissed. Kaye and Deluca's home was broken into just weeks before they were attacked, and they had tried to crack down on security to prevent any other incidents, according to friends of the couple. Furious community members have begged for a crackdown on crime and opened up about disturbing red flags they saw in the suspect. One person living in the neighborhood said that Boodarian would "sit in front of my friend's house just staring and smiling," according to the New York Post. "He did that on multiple occasions, sometimes in his own house, just looking out the window and smiling." Boodarian has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of first-degree burglary, and he's being held without bail in a Los Angeles correctional facility. His next court appearance has been scheduled for August 20.
The Guardian
40 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Suspect in LA club car-ramming charged with 37 counts of attempted murder
The driver accused of ramming his car into a crowd outside a Los Angeles nightclub over the weekend was charged with 37 felony counts of attempted murder, prosecutors said Tuesday. Fernando Ramirez, 29, was also charged with 37 felony counts of assault with a deadly weapon. If convicted, he could face multiple sentences of life imprisonment. Ramirez is accused of intentionally driving his car on to the sidewalk as partygoers were leaving the Vermont Hollywood venue at the end of a reggae hip-hop event early Saturday. The motive for the attack, which injured 37 people, was still unknown. A phone number for Ramirez could not be found in an online database search, and the public defender's office said they have not been appointed to represent him. 'When he drove that car on to that sidewalk, he aimed it at a whole sea of pedestrians,' LA county district attorney Nathan Hochman said in announcing the charges. The car came to a stop after colliding with several food carts, which became lodged underneath the vehicle, and bystanders attacked the driver, police said. Injuries ranged from minor to serious fractures and lacerations, and some people were briefly trapped beneath the vehicle. After fleeing the scene, Ramirez was later found to have been shot in the lower back, but authorities have not identified the suspected gunman. Officials said Tuesday they were still looking for the shooter. 'We understand that this brazen act has shaken the community and but for the good grace of God, this could have been a mass casualty incident' Hochman said. He added that eight people suffered 'great bodily injury'. Among those injured, 23 people were taken to hospitals, said Ronnie Villanueva, interim fire chief of the LA fire department. LA police chief Jim McDonnell said 'it's truly a miracle that no one was killed that day.' Ramirez has a criminal history that includes a battery and gang-related charge in 2014, an aggravated battery conviction for a 2019 attack on a Black man at a Whole Foods grocery store in Laguna Beach, California, and a domestic violence charge in 2021, records show. In the 2019 attack, he was also convicted of a civil rights misdemeanor, and the assault was considered a hate crime because he told police he hated Black people. But a California appeals court in 2021 said he made that statement after invoking his fifth amendment rights, and only the battery conviction was allowed to stand. Ramirez was released from custody after more than two years in jail and prison. Ramirez 'has proved to be violent to strangers and family alike and clearly has a lack of concern for the safety of others', Orange county prosecutors said in a court filing for the 2019 attack. A 2024 drunken driving case and 2022 domestic violence charge were pending at the time of the nightclub crash, according to records.
The Independent
42 minutes ago
- The Independent
Two children and woman killed in shooting while man remains in hospital
Two children and a woman have died in a shooting in Co Fermanagh, police have confirmed. A fourth person, a man, remains in a serious condition in hospital after the incident in the Drummeer Road area of Maguiresbridge. All four people are members of the same household, police said. Superintendent Robert McGowan confirmed all four suffered gunshot wounds. Officers remain at the scene, which has been cordoned off. Police are probing a triple murder and attempted suicide line of inquiry. Police said the three victims are a woman aged in her 40s and two children, one male and one female, however their ages have not yet been confirmed. Mr McGowan said that the suspect has a 'limited footprint' with police. Speaking in Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh, Mr McGowan said that two people were pronounced dead at the scene while a third person died in hospital on Wednesday afternoon. The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS) said they received a 999 call at 8.21am on Wednesday and dispatched three emergency ambulances, one rapid response paramedic, two ambulance officers and an ambulance doctor to the scene. Mr McGowan said: 'Earlier this morning, police received a report of an incident in Maguiresbridge. 'Officers, along with their colleagues in the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service, attended a house in the Drummeer Road area. 'Tragically, despite best medical efforts, two people were pronounced dead at the scene. Sadly, I can confirm that a third person has this afternoon passed away in hospital. 'The fourth person, who was taken to hospital, remains in a condition described as serious. 'All four had sustained gunshot wounds and I can confirm that all four individuals are from the same household.' Mr McGowan said the incident was ongoing when police arrived at the scene on Wednesday morning. 'It just happened prior to police attending, so, as you can appreciate, it's a very harrowing scene for all involved,' he told reporters. 'So, not only police officers, but colleagues in the ambulance service, and family members. Without going into detail, it's a very harrowing scene for anybody to attend.' He added: 'There is limited domestic history involving the people concerned and that is certainly one line of inquiry that the detectives will take forward.' He said the alarm was raised by a phone call made from the house where the incident was taking place. 'I am keen first and foremost to express my sympathy to the family members and loved ones who are today left in total shock and who will struggle to come to terms with their unimaginable loss,' he added. 'Detectives have now commenced a murder investigation and are working at pace to determine the circumstances. 'This is a quiet rural location and I'm aware that this tragic event will have sent shockwaves of sadness throughout the community.' Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O'Neill said on Twitter: 'I'm absolutely heartbroken by the news from Maguiresbridge today. 'My thoughts are with the victims, their loved ones, and the local community. 'I have no doubt that the people of Maguiresbridge will come together and support one another through this incredibly difficult time.' 'My thoughts are with the victims, their relatives and the local community in Fermanagh. 'I would urge the public not to speculate and to allow the PSNI to continue their investigation.'
