OLD BRIDGE, N.J. - An ex-Marine wearing military clothing opened fire at a grocery market early Friday, killing two of his co-workers and himself as other terrified store employees hid in the back, authorities said.

The 23-year-old man left his shift at a store in at about 3:30 a.m. and returned a half-hour later to the closed store with a handgun and an AK-47 assault rifle, Middlesex County Prosecutor Bruce Kaplan said. About 12 to 14 workers were still there.

The man fired at least 16 rounds from the rifle at the first workers he saw, killing 18-year-old Christina LoBrutto and a 24-year-old Bryan Breen as other workers hid, officials said.

"I do not believe that they were specifically targeted. I believe everybody in the store was a target," said Kaplan.
The gunman then killed himself, said Kaplan.

He did not release the suspect's name, but a law enforcement official briefed on the investigation identified him as Terence Tyler, an ex-Marine who was discharged in 2010. The official spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because his agency is not in charge of the investigation.

Tyler, an infantryman from Brooklyn, never served overseas, said Marine spokeswoman Capt. Kendra Motz. She wouldn't comment on the circumstances of his discharge.

At the top of a Facebook page for a Terence Tyler who says he served in the Marines the same dates as the shooter has this slogan: "Be optimistic. All the people you hate are going to eventually die."

Tyler moved to an apartment near the supermarket earlier this summer, neighbours said. Co-workers said he had been only working at the store for a few weeks.

Pathmark worker Miranda Miranda said she steered clear of Tyler. "The way he looked at me, he gave me an uneasy vibe," she said.

Miranda had regularly worked the overnight shift on Thursday but said LoBrutto agreed to take over the shift for her a few weeks ago.

John Niccollai, president of a foodworkers union that represents some store employees, said officials and workers at the Pathmark store told him the gunman wore military clothing and had just punched out for the night before coming back into the store and opening fire.

Many of the employees escaped gunfire, Niccollai said, when an assistant manager, "who I would view as a hero," helped many workers to get out of the store through the back door.

Kaplan and police walked through the shooting scene at the supermarket Friday morning, with two long windows in the front completely shot through. Police kept onlookers away; a number of vehicles were in the parking lot outside, along with police cars.

The store and its parking lot were closed.

A spokeswoman for Pathmark's parent company, Montvale-based Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. said Friday the company is "deeply saddened" by the shooting and is co-operating with investigators.

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Associated Press writers Samantha Henry in Newark, New Jersey, Geoff Mulvihill and Larry Rosenthal in Trenton, New Jersey, and Julio Cortez in Old Bridge contributed to this report.

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  • Old Bridge Shooting

    Police stationed outside the PathMark as body bags are removed from the scene where Tyler shot two coworkers and himself early Friday.

  • Old Bridge Shooting

    Detectives outside the apartment where Terence Tyler lived with his sister in Old Bridge, New Jersey, a five minute walk from the PathMark he shot two coworkers in before killing himself.

  • Bruce Kaplan

    Middlesex County prosecutor Bruce Kaplan inspects the scene of a shooting at a Pathmark grocery store in Old Bridge, N.J., Friday, Aug. 31, 2012. An employee of the supermarket opened fire at the closed store early Friday as a dozen or more colleagues worked inside, killing two of them and himself, Kaplan said. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

  • An Old Bridge, N.J. police officer stands in front of the home of the alleged supermarket gunman, Friday, Aug. 31, 2012. Officials say the supermarket employee killed two people at the store early Friday and then fatally shot himself. Authorities say he opened fire on employees he saw when he walked into the Pathmark store. The store's front windows were shattered by gunfire. The motive is being investigated.(AP Photo/Rich Schultz)

  • An Old Bridge police officer talks to an employee of TGI Friday's in Old Bridge N.J., Friday, Aug. 31, 2012. Officials say a supermarket employee killed two people at the store early Friday and then fatally shot himself. Authorities say he opened fire on employees he saw when he walked into the Pathmark store. The store's front windows were shattered by gunfire. The motive is being investigated.(AP Photo/Rich Schultz)

  • An Old Bridge, N.J. police officer stands in front of the home of the alleged supermarket gunman, Friday, Aug. 31, 2012. Officials say the supermarket employee killed two people at the store early Friday and then fatally shot himself. Authorities say he opened fire on employees he saw when he walked into the Pathmark store. The store's front windows were shattered by gunfire. The motive is being investigated.(AP Photo/Rich Schultz)

  • Bruce Kaplan

    Middlesex County prosecutor Bruce Kaplan, center, walks with officials on the parking lot of a Pathmark grocery store where three people died in an early morning shooting in Old Bridge, N.J., Friday, Aug. 31, 2012. Officials say a supermarket employee killed two people at the store early Friday and then fatally shot himself. Authorities say he opened fire on employees he saw when he walked into the Pathmark store. The store's front windows were shattered by gunfire. The motive is being investigated. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

  • Officials investigate the scene of a shooting at a Pathmark grocery store in Old Bridge, N.J., Friday, Aug. 31, 2012. Officials say a supermarket employee killed two people at the store early Friday and then fatally shot himself. Authorities say he opened fire on employees he saw when he walked into the Pathmark store. The store's front windows were shattered by gunfire. The motive is being investigated. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

  • Police investigate a shooting at a PathMark grocery store on Route 9 in Old Bridge, N.J., Friday, Aug. 31, 2012. A gunman allegedly entered the store early this morning when the store was closed to the public and fired a shotgun killing two employees and then himself. (AP Photo/Rich Schultz)

  • Officials investigate the scene of a shooting at a Pathmark grocery store in Old Bridge, N.J., Friday, Aug. 31, 2012. At least three people have died in the shooting. A law enforcement official briefed on the shooting says the person believed to be the shooter is among the dead. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

  • Bruce Kaplan

    Middlesex County prosecutor Bruce Kaplan, right, arrives at the scene of a shooting at a Pathmark grocery store in Old Bridge, N.J., Friday, Aug. 31, 2012. At least three people have died in the shooting. A law enforcement official briefed on the shooting says the person believed to be the shooter is among the dead. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

  • Officials investigate the scene of a shooting at a Pathmark grocery store in Old Bridge, N.J., Friday, Aug. 31, 2012. At least three people have died in the shooting. A law enforcement official briefed on the shooting says the person believed to be the shooter is among the dead. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

  • Officials investigate the scene of a shooting at a Pathmark grocery store in Old Bridge, N.J., Friday, Aug. 31, 2012. At least three people have died in the shooting. A law enforcement official briefed on the shooting says the person believed to be the shooter is among the dead. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)