This aerial photo provided by WABC shows police responding to the scene of a shooting at a Stop & Shop supermarket in West Hempstead, N.Y., on Tuesday, April 20, 2021. Nassau County Executive Laura Curran said in a tweet Tuesday there had been shooting at the Long Island supermarket and that the suspect has not been apprehended. (WABC via AP)

WEST HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. (AP) — A gunman shot three workers inside a manager’s office at a Long Island grocery store today, killing one of them, police said.

A manhunt was underway for the gunman, who had also worked at the store, said Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder.

The shooting happened around 11 a.m. inside an office upstairs from the shopping floor at the Stop & Shop in West Hempstead, Ryder said.

There were about a “couple hundred” shoppers inside the store at the time, he said.

“They told us to just run and get out, and that’s what we did,” shopper Laura Catanese told News 12 Long Island.

Barbara Butterman told Newsday she heard four or five shots while shopping for produce, initially thinking the sound was something falling in the back storeroom.

“Everyone was running around upstairs where offices were,” Butterman told the newspaper.

The name of the victims have not been made public. The man who was killed was a 49-year-old store employee, Ryder said. The two wounded were hospitalized and were conscious and alert.

Police identified the suspected gunman as Gabriel DeWitt Wilson and gave a date of birth for him indicating he is 31 years old. It was unclear whether he was still employed by the store, Ryder said.

Wilson was wearing all black and carrying a small handgun as he fled westbound on Hempstead Turnpike, Ryder told reporters at a news conference.

Several hours after the shooting, police converged on a neighborhood in nearby Hempstead, which is east of the grocery store, as the search for Wilson continued.

“Law enforcement has cast a wide net to locate the shooter,” Nassau County Executive Laura Curran told News 12. She said the shooting was “one of the most serious incidents we’ve had in a very, very long time.”

The shooting in West Hempstead followed a rash of recent mass shootings across the county, including one on March 22 that left 10 people dead at a supermarket in Boulder, Colorado.

Video of the aftermath of the shooting showed police cars and ambulances parked in front of the store, officers with long guns and yellow crime scene tape draped across the entrance.

Curran said nearby schools have been told not to admit visitors and residents were asked to remain indoors.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he was directing state police to assist local police in the manhunt.

“I’m praying for the victims, and my heart breaks for their families and loved ones,” Cuomo said in a statement.

West Hempstead is near the New York City-Nassau County border and about 30 miles (50 kilometers) east of midtown Manhattan.

Stop & Shop President Gordon Reid said in a statement that the company is “shocked and heartbroken by this act of violence” and that the West Hempstead store will remain closed until further notice.

“Our hearts go out to the families of the victims, our associates, customers and the first responders who have responded heroically to this tragic situation,” Reid said.

Stop & Shop is a grocery chain in the northeastern U.S. owned by the Dutch company Ahold Delhaize.