PBSO Is Piecing Together a Double Murder-Suicide At Publix

Publix Shooting in Royal Palm Beach

Photo: CBS 12

The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office is trying to piece together what led up to a double murder-suicide at a local Publix.

Detectives say a woman and her grandson, just shy of his second birthday, were shot to death by 55-year old Timothy J. Wall of Royal Palm Beach at the supermarket near the intersection of Royal Palm Beach and Okeechobee Boulevards before noon on Thursday.

The motive is unknown and Sheriff's Spokeswoman Teri Barbera says they're unsure about the relationship between Wall and the two victims.

Publix issued a statement reading in part, "Our thoughts are with those who are impacted by this tragedy. We are cooperating with the local law enforcement."

It's the latest incident of violence involving gun use that has some calling for change. Outspoken Parkland parent Fred Guttenberg tweeted "To every Senator who believes protecting the filibuster is more important than protecting the American family, we will replace you."

Palm Beach County Commissioner Melissa McKinlay asked for thoughts and prayers for the victims. She took to Twitter to say "No politics today. Just prayers." But she did note "We've become too numb to gun violence" and "Tomorrow we must step up and engage in a very honest conversation about why this happened and what we can do specifically to prevent this violence." McKinlay closed her tweet with "Inaction is not an option."

A spokeswoman for the supermarket chain on Friday said the store will remain closed to the public. It is only open for employees and customers who left items behind when the shots rang out.

Though Maria Brous said they are preparing to reopen at some point.

"Once the store was turned back into our custody yesterday, we went through a process of a deep clean and disinfection of our store. We discarded any product that was impacted, and redesigned the store's layout."

She expects to have more reopening information later in the day.

Brous also says employees are being offered grief counseling.

The store is only open for people who may have left personal items behind as the shots rang out.

Meanwhile, the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office has released a photo of the suspect, Timothy Hall.

Timothy Hall

Photo: Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office

The grandmother and grandson's names are not being released, at the request of family members.


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