Express Lane Shootout
Pathmark Worker Shoots Two Colleagues, Kills Self

(Old Bridge, NJ) — Ex-Marine and Pathmark employee Terence Tyler shot up his supermarket early this morning with a handgun and an AK-47 assault rifle, killing two employees before shooting himself.

Tyler clocked out from his shift at 3:30am; he returned to the closed store a half-hour later, dressed in military clothing, and began the carnage.

Firing at least 16 shots from the rifle, the 23-year-old killed an 18-year-old woman and a 24-year-old man as the other dozen or so employees in the store at the time hid from the gunman. Many found their escape through a back door, guided by an assistant manager.

Tyler also aimed at the fresh fruit and a pyramid of canned creamed corn, according to one of the workers inside the store at the time, speaking on condition of anonymity. The employee said that Tyler had stacked the pyramid earlier in the day; taking out hostilities on defenseless fruit was a complete mystery, however. In the end, both the creamed corn pyramid and the fresh fruit section were in ruins.

A Tyler friend said "he didn't seem crazy" as police and Pathmark employees searched for a reason for the rampage.

One employee, speaking on condition of anonymity through their spokesman, says the problem may have been a deli-related issue.

"My friend saw him sneaking some bologna one time," said the spokesman for the employee, speaking on condition of anonymity. "And I know someone else who watched him sneeze and spit on a whole package of turkey. But he was always had that threatening look, no one wanted to report him or cross him."

Pathmark's parent company, Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, said is "deeply saddened" by the shooting.

"It's such a shame that he couldn't have shot up one of the stores we're closing," said a Pathmark executive, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Tyler's Facebook page contained the following slogan: "Be optimistic. All the people you hate are going to eventually die."