Arkansas man pleads not guilty to murder charges in mass grocery store shooting

CAMDEN, Ark. (AP) — The Arkansas man accused of killing four people and injuring 10 others, including two police officers, in mass shooting at grocery store pleaded not guilty Tuesday to several charges related to the attack.

Appearing in court for the first time, Travis Eugene Posey, 44, pleaded not guilty to four counts of capital murder and ten counts of attempted capital murder for a filming last week at the Mad Butcher grocery store. A judge ordered Posey held without bail.

Police have not identified the motive for the crime of Posey, 44, who was shot and injured by officers who exchanged gunfire with him. Police said he did not appear to have a personal connection to any of the victims. Gregg Parrish, the executive director of the Arkansas Public Defense Commission, represented Posey during the brief hearing.

Posey spoke briefly during the hearing to say Parrish explained the charges to him, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported. The judge did not set a date for Posey's next court appearance.

After the hearing, Parrish said he spoke with Posey's family, who he said were “devastated” for the mourners.

“They have suffered for the victims and their families in this case, and they are so saddened by the events that took place,” Posey's attorney told the Associated Press.

Posey was carrying a 12-gauge shotgun, a pistol and a bandolier with dozens of additional shotgun shells on Friday, authorities said. He fired most, if not all, of the rounds from the shotgun, opening fire on people in the parking lot before entering the store and shooting “indiscriminately” at customers and employees, said the police. Several gunshot victims were found inside the store and in the parking lot, police said.

The shooting happened midday in Fordyce, a town of about 3,200 people located 65 miles (104 kilometers) south of Little Rock.

This is at least the third mass shooting at a U.S. grocery store in the past three years. In 2022, a white supremacist killed 10 black people in a Buffalo supermarket. This came just over a year after 10 people were shot and killed. supermarket in Boulder, Colorado.

Posey lived in New Edinburg, a small town of about 150 people located southeast of Fordyce.

Authorities said Posey had virtually no criminal history, although he was arrested in 2011 at the gate of Fort Drum in New York and charged with misdemeanor criminal possession of a weapon. Posey said he was a truck driver trying to make a delivery when he voluntarily told police at the door that he had an unloaded gun, according to New York State Police. Posey eventually pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct and paid a $200 fine.