3 Killed in Shooting at Washington State Convenience Store

At least three people were fatally shot in an apparently random attack at a convenience store in Yakima, Wash., early Tuesday morning, setting off a manhunt after the gunman ran across the street and escaped in a stolen vehicle, the authorities said.

Officers from the Yakima Police Department were called around 3:30 a.m. to a Circle K store on the city’s east side. They found three people dead inside and outside the store, the police chief, Matthew Murray, said.

After he ran across the street, the gunman fired into a vehicle and jumped behind the wheel after the driver moved aside, the chief said. The Police Department later said on Twitter that there may not have been a fourth victim in the car.

The department released video surveillance images of a man they described as the “presumed homicide suspect” and identified as Jarid Haddock, 21. Local television stations reported that the police had surrounded a location associated with the suspect.

Chief Murray said that the shooting appeared to have been random, and that there were no apparent conflicts between the victims and the gunman.

“The male just walked in and started shooting,” he said.

The shooting set off warnings in Yakima, a city of about 96,000 people in central Washington, as the authorities said that the suspect was being sought. The East Valley School District ordered students to be kept inside. The police closed roads in the area for several hours.

Representative Dan Newhouse, a Republican whose district includes Yakima, called the attack a “horrific tragedy” on Twitter and urged the community to “remain vigilant.”