Riverside County sheriff's investigators have recovered two handguns "in close proximity of the deceased" men, according to a sheriff's spokesman. The two men were fatally shot today after an argument between two females inside a crowded Palm Desert Toys R Us store escalated and the men pulled out guns, witnesses said.

Police say the area is safe and they are letting shoppers leave the scene at 72-314 Highway 111 after an hours-long lockdown.

The Palm Desert Police Department received calls of shots fired about 11:31 a.m., Riverside County sheriff’s Sgt. Dennis Gutierrez said. When they arrived, two men were deceased inside.

"There was a confrontation inside the store," Gutierrez said, adding that the victims may have known each other and may have had some kind of problem with each other already.

He declined to elaborate further.

The names of the victims will not be released until next of kin are notified, Gutierrez said.

He also confirmed Friday afternoon that two handguns were found near the bodies of each of the dead men.

The bodies of the victims were removed from the store at about 8 p.m.

Palm Desert Councilman Jim Ferguson said police told him two men with handguns shot and killed each other and that there were 25 witnesses.

Riverside County Sheriff’s Lt. Greg Ammons said that while an investigation into the shooting is ongoing, they are not looking for other suspects because the two men were “the only ones involved.”

The violence erupted on Black Friday, the traditional post-Thanksgiving start of the holiday shopping surge, but accounts of what occurred inside the store were fragmentary or second hand and it was not clear whether it involved any shopping frenzy.

“I think the obvious question everyone has is who takes loaded weapons into a Toys R Us?” Ferguson said. “I doubt it was the casual holiday shopper.

“We have two dead individuals inside the store,” he said. “The events of why the shots were fired is still ongoing.”

A statement released by Toys R Us late Friday afternoon said the company was “outraged” by the violence and “that anyone would compromise the safety and security of our customers and employees.”

The company is working closely with local law enforcement and does not associate the shooting with Black Friday, according to the statement.

Sarah Pacia of Cathedral City said she was in the store with her two boys, ages 4 and 6, looking at coloring books when she heard a commotion in the next aisle.

She thought it was people rushing to get a sale item. Then she heard three or four shots.

She said she froze, and store employees calmly escorted her out of the store.

"This is Toys R Us. There are kids shopping in there," Pacia said. Her son Jayden, 4, was clinging to her leg. He told her he didn't want to die, she said.

Dan Watson said he got a call from his 33-year-old wife, Andrea, at 11:19 a.m. She said she there was a lot of gunfire, and he replied, “I can hear it, pop, pop, pop.”

“I told to turn off her ringer and hide,” Watson said.

He said the wife said, “Someone’s in the store shooting.”

He last heard from her at 12:05 p.m. He said she’s doing fine.

“I’m doing better now," he said, his eyes red at the scene. "But when I was driving here, it broke my heart, because she said 'Just tell my boys I love them.'"
Her sons, 3 and 7, are with dad.

Employees at World Gym, 44-419 Town Center Way in Palm Desert, said they are trying to keep people who fled the scene calm and have not heard any further reports from police.

"I've got a bunch of people from Toys R Us that ran out of the building," said Jeff Vallaire of World Gym,

Vallaire said he did not hear shots but said about a dozen people came across the street to the gym. They said there was a gunman inside the toy store.

"They ran out the back. They heard gunshots and came in here," he said. "It's pretty crazy around here right now."

Scott Bertz had just got off of work in the morning (he works at Waste Management) and turned on the TV when he got home and saw the news about the Toys R Us shooting. He came right over when it happened.

It was his daughter's first day of work at the store. Brisa Bertz is a College of the Desert student who was working working as a clerk over the holidays to save some money. He hasn't heard from her since.

"It's crazy," Scott Bertz said. "I don't know why someone would do this," he said, tears streaming down his face. "What could make somebody so mad?"

Major traffic jams have been reported on Highway 111 and Fred Waring Drive. More than a dozen police cars, paramedic units and fire trucks were at the scene, and a helicopter was circling overhead.