A gunman opened fire at a Toys R Us store in Palm Desert, killing two and causing shoppers at the busy store to scramble for cover.Riverside County sheriff and fire officials responded to a report of a shooting and two gunshot victims at 11:32 a.m. at the toy store in the Desert Crossing Shopping Center at 72314 Highway 111, said Cheri Patterson, information officer for Riverside County Fire and Cal Fire, based in Perris.

“We have two dead individuals inside the store,” Dennis Guitierrez of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department told the Associated Press. “The events of why the shots were fired is still ongoing.”

Details about the shooting were still spotty, but witnesses said the scene at the store and nearby businesses was chaotic. Witnesses told TV stations that shoppers were evacuated at about 11:30 a.m. and were told a gunman was in the store.

“I’ve got a bunch of people from Toys R Us that ran out of the building,” Jeff Vallaire, a worker at a nearby World Gym, told the Sun newspaper in Palm Springs. “I’m just hearing from what they told me. They ran out the back. They heard gunshots and came in here. … It’s pretty crazy around here right now.”

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