| Armed gunmen stormed into the Target Greatland store in north Laredo Monday evening, chasing another group of men as terrified customers and employees fled the building.No shots were fired, said Laredo Police spokesman Juan Rivera, and police officers were on the scene almost immediately. Two men were in custody late Monday. Both have Laredo addresses, Rivera said, and they don’t appear to be connected with the ongoing crime wave in Nuevo Laredo. An incensed Mayor Raul Salinas was at the scene, praising Laredo officers’ work and vowing to find the assailants. “We’re going to use whatever resources are necessary,” he said. “We will deal with it immediately. The safety of our citizens is our No. 1 priority. “We need to send a very strong message that we will not tolerate lawlessness in this town.” Rivera said a call came in at about 7 p.m. that men armed with weapons were inside Target. There was some kind of confrontation outside the store, Rivera said. As the victims ran into the store for cover, they were chased by armed assailants. While Rivera could not confirm the exact type of weapon, some witnesses said they looked like machine guns. “They had a plan. They were looking for someone and they identified their target,” Rivera said. There was a group of victims and a group of assailants, Rivera said. Some escaped out the back of the store and some out the front. One officer chased a suspect across the road on foot, catching him near Manadas Creek, about a mile from Target. The suspect was armed, Rivera said. “It was a great job by the officer,” Rivera said. That suspect and another man are the ones in custody; it was unclear whether the second man was a victim or assailant. Their names were not immediately available. “It was a pretty widespread crime scene,” Rivera said. “There was a lot going on and we don’t know who’s who yet. “The quick response time by the officers made the difference,” Rivera added. “These guys were going to confront the situation head on.” As they were looking for evidence, police found a weapon inside a trash can in the parking lot along with some ammunition. Officers also recovered one of the vehicles involved at a restaurant across the street, Rivera said. Shortly after 8 p.m., officers wearing bulletproof vests went into the store, sweeping the place for evidence and ensuring that there was no assailant hiding anywhere in the store. Target officials said their first priority is the safety of customers and employees; the store was evacuated when the attackers ran into the building and it was closed for the rest of the night. Target officials said they were working with police to investigate the incident. Outside the store, employees and a few customers were milling around. Employees were taken back into the store, and then walked out again; it was unclear why they were asked to do that. Michael Worth was one of the customers waiting outside. He said he was shopping for DVDs in Target, and noticed some children playing with toy swords in one of the aisles. Then he saw a teenager running, with two men chasing him. The two men had guns, but he at first thought they were toy guns. “I saw what I thought was a plastic rifle,” Worth said. “I went right back to my business.” About two minutes later, he said, a store employee came over and told him he needed to leave the store, which he did. Worth said he was waiting because he hoped the store would reopen so that he could purchase the DVDs he had already set aside inside. But that was in vain; the store did not open again. Across the parking lot at a restaurant, Ryan Cuddigan said he saw a man run by the restaurant, followed by police officers. The man jumped the ditch along I-35 and climbed onto the highway. Reports that the H-E-B store next door to Target also was evacuated turned out to be unfounded; the store manager said officers came into the store, but it was not evacuated. | 
this is disappointing. Luckily, no one was shot or hurt but what if it had been different? What if someone had gotten shot? It could have been worse...much worse.
