Arkansas Mad Butcher grocery shoppers hid in freezer during mass shooting of suspected shooter Travis Posey

Petrified grocery store shoppers in Arkansas hid in freezers as a madman went on a shooting rampage, killing four people, including an 81-year-old woman who succumbed to her wounds Saturday.

Shoppers at the Mad Butcher grocery store in Fordyce, Ark. recalled hearing “pops” just before 11:30 a.m. Friday, thinking something had fallen or someone was setting off fireworks, according to CNN.

Katrina Doherty was shopping for dinner with her 18-year-old daughter and 4-year-old son when suspected shooter Travis Eugene Posey opened fire in the store.

The 39-year-old mother was in a separate aisle from her children at the time, but found them running alongside other shoppers to seek shelter in the back of the store where two employees led them in a freezer.

“We ran there very quickly. We still heard gunshots continue to ring out,” Katrina Doherty told the outlet. “It was like in slow motion. My daughter said to me, “Mom, pinch me, this can’t be real.” And I was like, 'Baby, this is real.'

Doherty remembers hearing nine to 10 gunshots before finding shelter in the cold storage unit, where the group huddled in “panic mode,” bracing for the cold, not knowing what was happening inside. 'outside.

“We were just sitting there and praying,” she said. “I was in panic mode. My son almost froze to death. We tried to silence him, but he said he wanted his daddy. It felt like we were there forever,”

Doherty and the rest of the shoppers remained inside the freezer for about 15 minutes until police came to escort them out.

She then found her 15-year-old twin daughters, who were waiting in the car outside, and ducked down when the shots rang out.

In the parking lot, Posey, armed with a long gun, allegedly fired in several directions, hitting several people before the police arrived.

Posey, 44, was shot after exchanging gunfire with police.

He will be charged with four counts of capital murder, with additional charges still pending, Arkansas State Police said.

Posey was treated for non-life-threatening injuries and released to Arkansas State Police. He is being held at the Ouachita County Detention Center.

He is expected to appear in court on Monday.

Shirley Taylor, 62, Callie Weems, 23, and Roy Sturgis, 50, were all identified as the civilians killed in Friday's shooting.

Ellen Shrum, 81, died Saturday evening.

Weems, a nurse at Dallas County Medical Center and mother of a 10-month-old daughter, was shopping when she was struck by gunfire.

“I checked Callie's location through good old Live 360 ​​and it showed she was in the hospital,” Helen Browning told Fox 16. “I'm like, 'She's in the hospital. work.' She came to help: “There was…she was in town…”

Browning rushed to the grocery store to learn the heartbreaking news when she hadn't heard from her daughter.

“My best friend was standing right there and I said, 'Kristie, tell me my baby is okay.' and she said, “I can’t.” And that’s when I collapsed,” Browning recalls.

“I just want to know why Joey Posey woke up this morning and decided he had to ruin his family's life,” the heartbroken mother said.

Browning revealed that his family lost another member in the shootout with Callie.

“Our niece’s father was there too and he’s no longer with us,” Browning said. “So it’s a double whammy for our family.”

Roy Sturgis left his family in an online obituary and is survived by his “pride and joy, his daughter.”

Shirley Taylor's daughter called her mother “such a wonderful woman” she “didn't deserve this.”

The shooting left nine others injured, aged 20 to 65, the ASP said.

“Four of those individuals remain hospitalized, including one woman who is in critical condition at UAMS in Little Rock.”

Three of the injured civilians have already been released from Dallas County Medical Center.

Two officers, James Johnson of the Fordyce Police Department and John Hudson of the Stuttgart Police Department were also injured in the shooting.

Johnson, 31, was treated and released for a gunshot wound, while Hudson, 24, was “minorly injured.”