Man dies after shooting outside Stafford Walmart

A man was shot Wednesday night in front of the Walmart along West Airport near the Southwest Freeway. A man was shot Wednesday night in front of the Walmart along West Airport near the Southwest Freeway. Photo: Mike Glenn, Chronicle Photo: Mike Glenn, Chronicle Image 1 of / 5 Caption Close Man dies after shooting outside Stafford Walmart 1 / 5 Back to Gallery

A Walmart store in Stafford was evacuated after a shooting in the parking lot on Wednesday that sent a man to the hospital where he later died.

Police quickly converged on the Walmart shortly before 7 p.m. along West Airport near the Southwest Freeway.

Armida Veliz was in the McDonald's restaurant inside the store when she heard several gunshots.

"I hid under the table," she later said, still in shock after the ordeal.

Veliz called her husband, who had earlier dropped her off for some shopping.

"She said there was a guy in here shooting," Paul Veliz said. "She was talking to me from under the table."

Stafford police said the victim was taken by ambulance to Memorial Hermann Southwest Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival. He was shot at least twice.

Police said the man was involved in some kind of altercation inside the store with the gunman that spilled into the parking lot.

The gunman fled and was still at large late Wednesday. Police did not have a description of him. They don't believe the two men knew each other.

"We believe this was just a random altercation," Stafford Police Lt. James Leedom said.

They don't know what prompted the quarrel or what caused it to escalate into gunfire.

"We're looking into that right now," Leedom said.

Paul Veliz said the man who was killed was at the store with a woman and a child.

"They were trying to pull her (the child) away so she wouldn't see anything," Veliz said.

Veliz said his first priority was to take care of his wife.

"I was just trying to get her out to make sure she was OK," he said. "It was pandemonium."