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Armed bystander fatally shoots gunman who opened fire in Oklahoma City restaurant

May 24, 2018 at 11:57 p.m. EDT
Police officers stand at the scene of a shooting on the east side of Lake Hefner in Oklahoma City at Louie’s restaurant May 24. (Sarah Phipps/AP)

A bystander fatally shot a gunman who opened fire inside an Oklahoma City restaurant Thursday evening, injuring multiple people, police said.

The unidentified shooter entered Louie’s Grill & Bar, located on the water at Lake Hefner, and started shooting at customers about 6:30 p.m., said Capt. Bo Mathews, a spokesman for the Oklahoma City Police Department. Two people, a woman and a girl, were shot and seriously injured, Mathews said. Oklahoma’s News 4 reported that the victims were a mother and her 12-year-old daughter who went to Louie’s to celebrate the girl’s sister’s birthday.

When the gunman left the restaurant and attempted to flee, Mathews said an armed bystander standing outside confronted him, pulled out his handgun and fatally shot him. Both the gunman and the bystander who intervened used handguns in the shootings, Mathews said.

A bystander fatally shot a gunman who opened fire inside an Oklahoma City restaurant May 24, injuring multiple people, police said. (Video: Reuters)

The civilian has not been identified, “but all I know is it was just a Good Samaritan, and it looked like he took the right measures to put an end to the terrible incident,” Mathews said.

Mathews told The Washington Post that the shooting “appears to be a random act,” but it remains under investigation.

Oklahoma police said at 8 p.m. that the victims were undergoing surgery and are expected to survive.

At least two other people were injured in the chaos as people eating dinner inside Louie’s attempted to take cover or run. One man fell as he was fleeing and broke his arm, Mathews said. A fourth person sustained a “minor injury,” but it was unclear how, police said.

The shooter’s motive is unclear at this point.

“We do not know why this individual came into this business and started this,” Mathews told a reporter. “It’d be a shock to anybody sitting down with their family trying to eat.”

The scene remained under investigation late Thursday.