Two police officers were having what they thought a peaceful lunch hour Sunday at a Las Vegas restaurant when a man and a woman suddenly appeared at the scene and ambushed them, "fatally shooting them at point-blank range before fleeing to a nearby Wal-Mart where they killed a third person and then themselves in an apparent suicide pact," ABC News reported.
Police officials in Las Vegas said that the assailants "walked into CiCi's Pizza and gunned down Officers Alyn Beck, 41, and Igor Soldo, 31" and also yelled, "This is a revolution." However, one of the victims was able to return fire before dying, although it wasn't clear whether his shots did hit the shooters.
Las Vegas Metro Police Department's Sheriff Doug Gillespie said that the female attacker shot the male suspect before turning the gun on herself and ending her life. The identities of both suspects still have not been confirmed and their names unreleased.
"What precipitated this event? We do not know. Our officers were simply having lunch when this started," Gillespie revealed, as noted by LA Times. "They are both family men, and they're leaving behind loved ones."
"It's a tragic day," he went on to say. "But we still have a community to police, and we still have a community to protect. We will be out there doing it with our heads held high, but with an emptiness in our hearts."
The victims were declared dead at University Medical Center. "Beck had been with the department since 2001 and leaves behind a wife and three children. Soldo had been with the force since 2006 and is survived by a wife and baby, police said," ABC News added.
Carolyn Goodman, Las Vegas Mayor, said that the murders were a "cruel act" and also lauded the officers for serving the community and devoting their lives to protecting people.
Wal-Mart has released a statement on the incident, expressing its condolences and saying that the company is cooperating with officials on the investigation. Reports say the third person killed in the store was believed to be an inocent shopper.
"We express our deepest condolences to everyone who have been affected by this senseless act of violence. Our store is currently closed. This is still an active investigation and we are working with local police," Wal-Mart's spokeswoman Brooke Buchanan said in a statement.
"Cici's Pizza said in a statement the company was deeply saddened by the shooting and would keep the location closed until further notice," the news source also said. "Sunday's killings come less than a year after the Las Vegas police department's most recent on-duty death. Officer David VanBuskirk died while rescuing a stranded hiker by helicopter on July 22, 2013."