Two Walmart employees are dead and another employee charged with their murders after an early morning shooting at the Southaven, Mississippi, store.

The suspect, Martez Tarrell Abram, 39, was shot twice by an officer outside the building at 6811 Southcrest Parkway. He is currently being held at a Memphis hospital until he has recovered enough to be extradited to DeSoto County, said District Attorney John Champion.

Southaven is a suburb of Memphis, Tennessee.

Updates:Walmart shooting in Southaven: What we learned Wednesday

The Suspected Shooter:What we know about Martez Abram

The employees killed were identified as Brandon Gales, 38, and Anthony Brown, 40, according to the coroner’s office and family.

"These people were doing the same thing you and I do every day, showing up to work in an attempt to provide for their families, then became victims of a senseless violent act,” Southaven Police Chief Macon Moore said.

An officer was also shot, but was saved by his protective vest, Moore said. Police are not releasing the names of the officers involved.

Abram may face other charges in the future, Champion said.

Abram, who has a Southaven address, had been suspended not long before the shooting. An incident occurred "a few days prior" to the shooting in which he showed a knife to another employee, Champion said.

“To our knowledge, he did not threaten anybody with it, it was just that he showed a knife,” Champion said. “I assume that probably was one of the factors of him being terminated.”

Abram was suspended pending an investigation, officials later said.

Champion would not say how long Abram worked at the store.

SOUTHAVEN WALMART: Store closed 'until further notice'

FROM TED EVANOFF:How do we tame episodes of workplace violence, like whwe saw at Southaven Walmart?

Shooting occurred early Tuesday morning

Police first received calls about an active shooter at the Walmart around 6:33 a.m. Officers arrived on the scene about three minutes later, where they found the suspect in the west parking lot.

After the first officer was shot in the vest, other officers returned fire and shot Abram, who was taken to Regional One Medical Center, Moore said.

A fire had been set inside the building. A bomb squad also investigated a "suspicious backpack" out of "an abundance of caution," Champion said.

Weapons were recovered, but Champion would not give details of how many or what type. He said he believed they were purchased legally.

The officer who was shot was taken to DeSoto Baptist Hospital, where he was recovering with family.

Ayoka Pond, a spokeswoman for the hospital, described the officer as uninjured.

"He was wearing a bullet proof vest. He was admitted as a precaution,” she said.

Southaven Mayor Darren Musselwhite said he was proud of how law enforcement responded.

“This is someone who had a personal grievance with his employer,” Musselwhite said. “That’s sad enough, but its not something the city should be alarmed about as far as being on top of the event.”

Police blocked off every intersection surrounding the Walmart. There were dozens of emergency vehicles on scene, including police cruisers and ambulances.

Greg Foran, Walmart U.S. CEO, said in a statement, "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."

He also said, "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.”

Victims included longtime employee

Gales, 38, had worked at Walmart for more than 15 years, said B.W. Gales, his father.

His son loved his job and was among the store's management at the time he was killed, B.W. Gales said.

Family and friends gathered outside B.W. Gales' home Tuesday. Brandon Gales lived next door.

“I just — man, I love you," B.W. Gales said Tuesday as if speaking directly to his son. "I love you and I miss you.... "

It is unknown how long Brown, 40, had worked at the store. Brown's father, who declined to give his name, said that his son was killed but explained that Walmart did not want the family to comment while the company was looking into the incident. He appeared shaken and too broken up to speak.

Customers heard the shots

Walmart customer Phil Cox left the self checkout machine and walked out the front door. He said he heard a gunshot and then two more as he immediately headed for his Chevrolet pickup.

The time stamp on his receipt is 6:30 a.m.

Cox, 70, of Forrest City, Arkansas, said police arrived and he immediately heard six gunshots. He assumed police were firing. Cox said others gathered in the parking lot told him the shooter fired upon a manager of the Walmart, who was outside and then fired at two other employees.

Cox said he, himself, never felt threatened.

"I think the guy was going after employees,'' he said.

Carlos Odom said he was in Walmart when the shooting started.

“We was in Walmart, walking out getting to car you heard a ‘pop, pop pop, pop' … I never thought that I would be around some s***… That s*** was so loud. Praises go up to family of the person shot."

Walmart employees and others gathered in a Chili’s restaurant parking lot of a nearby shopping center and were speaking with police.

At least one Walmart employee was walked from the Chili's to an ambulance about 8:50 a.m. Another came out on a stretcher about 9 a.m.

Several men and women in dark blue shirts bearing the Walmart logo milled behind yellow police tape stretched across the Office Depot parking lot next door.

Walmart employees were instructed to leave their store after the incident.

One employee said there was no indication when the store might reopen.

"There are no procedures for situations like this," said the woman, who declined to be named.

Southaven Walmart location

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The Commercial Appeal has reporters on the scene and will update this story when more information becomes available.