No victims found after active shooter reported at Chewy warehouse in Belton
No victims were located after police responded to a report of an active shooter at the Chewy warehouse in Belton Tuesday, according to authorities.
The incident was initially reported to emergency dispatch at 10:49 a.m.
Officers cleared two buildings, Belton Police Department Lt. Dan Davis said, at Chewy and Saddle Creek, a logistics company.
“These warehouses are extremely large and they’re going to take quite some time to thoroughly clear and ensure that everybody is safe — employees and the public,” Davis said at a news briefing.
A Chewy employee heard something over an internal communications radio that prompted him to call 911. Belton police arrived in less than three minutes as employees were filing out of the building.
“It was obvious that the employees had received training on how to evacuate the building and how to deal with a potential situation like this,” Davis said.
Law enforcement conducted an initial assessment of all the buildings and did not find any victims, suspects or weapons. Police were going through the complex a second time, checking every “nook and cranny” of the facility before declaring it safe for employees to return, he said.
Live video streamed online from a KMBC television news helicopter showed dozens of people and several law enforcement vehicles in the facility’s parking lot as the investigation continued.
Davis said the scene was cleared and employees were allowed back inside at 1 p.m.
The nearly 800,000 square foot pet supply distribution center opened in August 2021. Founded in 2011, the Florida-based company operates out of more than 15 locations.
The Belton warehouse created more than 1,600 jobs in the region, according to The Missouri Partnership, an economic development organization.
