Three dead in Idaho shopping center shooting

Aug 1 (Reuters) – Three people died after a gunman opened fire in a shopping area in Twin Falls, Idaho, on Saturday, according to a city spokesman.

Twin Falls Police Chief Matthew Hicks told reporters the shooter was dead and the threat to the community was over.

• An active shooter incident was reported at around 2:30 p.m. local time (2030 GMT) near an In-N-Out Burger restaurant in a high-traffic commercial area, the city’s public information coordinator, Josh Palmer, told Reuters.

• About an hour later, “it was determined that the shooter was no longer a threat,” Palmer said.

• During a press conference, Hicks said he did not know the exact death toll, but Palmer told Reuters that three people were dead and at least two injured.

• The shooter was among the dead, Hicks said. Police are working to identify the gunman and determine motives for the shooting, he said.

• The Twin Falls Police Department said on Facebook that roads in the area and a nearby bridge were closed in the immediate aftermath of the report.

• The town of about 47,400 people lies in the central Idaho region of Magic Valley.

(Reporting by Doina Chiacu and Kenrick Cai; Editing by Sergio Non and Alistair Bell)