Martez Abram Biography

Martez Abram is a Mississippi Walmart employee who killed two co-workers and wounded an officer at Mississippi Walmart on July 30, 2019. The shooting occurred at around 6:30 a.m. in the city of Southaven, close to the Mississippi/Tennessee border, 13 miles south of Memphis. He had recently been suspended for bringing a knife to work. 

Martez Abraham Suspended Walmart Employee

Martez was a Walmart employee who had worked at the Mississippi Walmart for 25 years before he was suspended on July 27 and later fired on July 29, for bringing a knife to work. One of his co-workers told Local Memphis that Abraham “was known to have issues at the store.”

According to local media, Martez had shown the knife to a fellow employee. According to DeSoto County District Attorney John Champion, the matter was not pursued beyond police taking a report.

Martez Abraham Southaven Walmart Shooting

On Tuesday morning, July 30, 2019, Martez opened fire at a Mississippi Walmart store killing two employees and wounding an officer. The victims were identified as Brandon Gales, 38, of Hernando and Anthony Brown, 40, of Olive Branch.

WREG reported that an employee’s family told them that she was in the parking lot and saw her boss get shot by the suspect. She claimed that the shooter then pointed the weapon towards her and told her she was going to be next. She was able to run from the suspect and hide.

According to the Southaven Police Department, dispatch began receiving calls of an active shooter at the store located at 6811 Southcrest Boulevard around 6:30 a.m. Tuesday. Callers even said the alleged suspect had set fire to an interior part of the store. Champion confirmed that there was indeed a fire inside the baby section of the store.

When the officers arrived at the store, they began searching the store and the parking lot for the reported shooter. They found him in the parking lot and that’s when he shot one of the responding officers.

The Shelby County Bomb Squad was called in to clear the scene after a suspicious package was located at the Walmart. The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation was called in to handle the officer-involved shooting portion of the investigation while the Southaven Police Department will be handling the other criminal aspects of the case.

Greg Foran, Walmart President and CEO, released a statement saying; “The entire Walmart family is heartbroken by the loss of two valued members of our team. We feel tragedies like this personally, and our hearts go out to the families of our two associates and the officer who was injured. We are relieved the suspect was apprehended, and we appreciate the quick response of the local authorities and our associates. We’ll continue to focus on assisting law enforcement in their investigation and on supporting our associates.”

Our statement regarding the shooting in our Southaven, Mississippi store: https://t.co/U77vk4VIq5 pic.twitter.com/WBf17p4KBH

— Walmart Inc. (@WalmartInc) July 30, 2019

Martez Abraham Shot – Martez Abraham Hospitalized

After Martez shot a police officer, who was fortunately saved by a bulletproof vest, another police officer opened fire on Abraham shooting him twice. He was rushed to the Regional Medical Center where he underwent surgery.

Martez Abraham Charges

Abram is expected to face charges of two counts of first-degree murder. He has not been charged yet as he is still in the hospital. Abram does not have a criminal record, according to Champion. He said authorities recovered weapons that were legally purchased.

Martez Abraham Southaven Walmart Shooting Victims

Brandon Gales was a father of three and was a department manager who’d worked at the Walmart for 15 or 16 years. Martez shot dead Brandon Gales, 38, of Hernando and Anthony Brown, 40, of Olive Branch. Gales was a father of three children; a daughter who is 18 years old and two sons aged 10 and 5. Gale was described by one of his colleagues as a ‘close friend and an all-round good guy.’

Torrey Harris, an employee at Walmart, paid tribute to Anthony Brown on Facebook writing; “Wow… RIP Anthony Brown. An awesome dedicated individual. A store shooting happened during my management time with Walmart and is the reason I ended my tenure. The shooting today in Southaven, MS is heartbreaking and a devastating loss of two lives, The Store Manager (Anthony Brown) and a backroom employee (Brandon Gales) at the hand of a former coworker. Access to guns continues to be a heavily legislated issue. Everyday it gets closer and closer to home for families, When will something be done because what’s in place currently isn’t working.”