Suspect in Long Island grocery store shooting was a ‘troubled employee,’ authorities say

The suspect in the Long Island grocery store shooting was a “troubled employee,” according to the police.

“Gabriel was a troubled employee and in the months previous to this incident he was having unwanted advances toward females that worked there,” Nassau County Police Det. Lt. Stephen Fitzpatrick said, NBC News reported.

“He was having disputes with other workers and threatening them and was brought into the management office several times,” Fitzpatrick said.

Gabriel DeWitt Wilson allegedly wounded two people and killed one on Tuesday after firing at a Stop & Shop that had hundreds of customers in it.

Manager Ray Wishropp was fatally shot with a .387 caliber semiautomatic pistol, police said.

The shots were fired in the manager’s office 40 minutes after Wilson asked if he could be transferred to a different location.

Fitzpatricks said that Wilson was not told he wouldn’t be allowed to transfer locations.

“He was told to have the [Hempstead] manager call him [West Hempstead managers],” Fitzpatrick said. “He [Wilson] was going to have to fill out a form and that would happen. It was uneventful.”

“It was not confrontational at that time,” Fitzpatricks said. “He left the building without any violence or anything else being said. Forty minutes later, he returned to the building and you know the rest. He walked right up to the offices, opened fire on five individuals.”

Wilson left the scene with his gun, which has not been found by the police yet.

The grocery store will be closed until Sunday morning while authorities continue to investigate and look for the firearm. 

The two who are wounded were conscious and alert when they arrived at the hospital on Tuesday.