Walmart Employee Kills Woman Outside Store in Tragic Incident

A woman in her 60s died after a Walmart employee ran her over in the store's parking lot on a foggy morning, police said.

The incident occurred early on Monday in the 500 block of Showers Drive in Mountain View, California.

Dispatchers received calls reporting "a vehicle versus pedestrian" incident in the parking lot of the store at around 6 a.m., the Mountain View Police Department said in a news release that was posted on Facebook.

"Responding officers learned that a woman in her 60s was in the middle of the lot when an employee driving into work drove over her," the police department said.

Police said the woman was transported to an area hospital, where she later died.

At the time of the incident, the parking lot was dark and "densely covered in fog," police said.

They said that drugs and alcohol did not appear to be a factor in the incident, and that the driver had remained at the scene and cooperated with the investigation.

Investigators are working to determine the woman's identity. The Santa Clara County Medical Examiner-Coroner's Office will release the woman's name once her identity is confirmed and her next of kin notified, The Mercury News reported.

Officials say she may have been lying or crouching on the pavement when she was struck by the vehicle.

"It sounds like a tragic circumstance," Katie Nelson, a spokesperson for the police department, told KTVU. "She appeared low to the ground at the time the collision happened. So it wasn't like she was standing up and walking when the collision happened."

Newsweek has contacted the Mountain View Police Department for comment via email. Walmart has been contacted for comment via its website.

Facebook users commented on the police department's post, with some saying the store's parking lot is too dark.

"That walmart parking lot needs more light!!! Its so dark," one person wrote.

Another wrote: "Need more lights in the parking lot. It was really foggy this morning. May she rest in peace and I know how difficult this is for both families."

Others urged drivers to be more cautious in dark and foggy conditions.

"Please slow down in parking lots & residential streets," one person wrote. "Drive slower when fog is heavy & don't use your brights. They just reflect back, blinding you more."

According to the Federal Highway Administration, more than 38,000 traffic accidents occur during foggy conditions each year, resulting in the deaths of more than 600 people.