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Three shot in Phoenix office building

Posted at 3:09 PM, Jan 30, 2013
and last updated 2013-01-30 18:08:18-05

By CNN Staff

PHOENIX, Arizona (CNN) — Phoenix police said Wednesday they were searching for a suspect in the shooting of three people in an office building.

One of the victims was in “extremely critical condition,” and the other two suffered non-life-threatening injuries, said Sgt. Tommy Thompson, a public information officer with the Phoenix Police Department.

The incident was reported at about 10:30 a.m. (12:30 p.m. ET) near the intersection of 16th Street and Glendale, he said.

“A man described as a white male, possibly older, went into an office, got into some type of an altercation, and he shot three individuals,” Thompson said. “He fled the scene, we believe, before we got there.”

Thompson said he did not believe the shootings were random. “We believe that this individual was probably known to the victims,” he said. “We believe that this individual came to this location, for whatever purpose, got into an argument, which turned into gunfire.”

Attorney Mark Hummels was identified by his law firm, Osborn Maledon, as one of the victims. He was involved in a client mediation when he was shot, the Phoenix firm said.

The building houses several medical-related businesses, Public Information Officer James Holmes said. He said witnesses described the suspect as a man in his mid-60s who fled in a white vehicle.

Former astronaut Mark Kelly referred to the shooting during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in Washington on gun violence. “There’s 50 or so police cars on the scene,” he said.

Kelly and his wife, former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Arizona, this month launched “Americans for Responsible Solutions,” which seeks to raise money to counter the influence of the gun lobby.

Two years ago, Giffords was shot in the head by a gunman in a parking lot in Tucson.

CNN’s Deanna Hackney in Atlanta and Casey Wian in Phoenix contributed to this report.