On a tragic Friday morning, June 21, 2024, in Fordyce, Arkansas, 81-year-old Ellen Shrum, a Caucasian female, was shot while loading groceries into her car in the parking lot of the Mad Butcher supermarket. She had gone to the store to buy ingredients for a meal she was preparing for a neighbor with cancer. A gunman, identified as 44-year-old Travis Eugene Posey of New Edinburg, had begun a shooting spree that started in the parking lot and continued inside the grocery store.
The
incident began around 11:38 a.m. when Posey, armed with a 12-gauge shotgun and a pistol, opened fire indiscriminately. The tranquil morning quickly descended into chaos as panicked shoppers and employees ran for cover. In the ensuing violence, four people were killed, and eleven other civilians, along with two police officers, were injured. Ellen Shrum was critically wounded in the initial barrage of gunfire in the parking lot.
Emergency services rushed to the scene, and the injured, including Shrum, were transported to area hospitals. Despite the efforts of medical personnel, Ellen Shrum succumbed to her injuries the following day, becoming the fourth fatality of the mass shooting. The other victims who lost their lives were identified as Shirley Kay Taylor, 63, Callie Weems, 23, and Roy Sturgis, 50.
The suspect, Travis Eugene Posey, was taken into custody at the scene after exchanging gunfire with law enforcement. He sustained non-life-threatening injuries during the shootout. Following his release from medical care, Posey was transported to the Ouachita County Detention Center. He has since been charged with four counts of capital murder, with additional charges pending. Authorities have not yet released a motive for the attack, and it is not believed that Posey had any personal connection to the victims.
