Armed man, 20, who turned up to a Walmart carrying an assault rifle and 100 rounds of ammunition is stopped from entering Missouri store by hero firefighter who held him at gunpoint
- Springfield police said ‘an armed individual was arrested’ but no shots were fired
- They were called to the store in Springfield, Missouri on Thursday afternoon
- A man, 20, was held at gunpoint by an off-duty firefighter until police arrived
- Lt. Mike Lucas said panicked shoppers fled the area and the scene was ‘chaotic’
- ‘His intent was not to cause peace or comfort to anybody that was in the business here. In fact, he’s lucky he’s alive still, to be honest,’ Lucas said
- Police were scouring surveillance footage and the suspects social media accounts to determine whether the man intended to live-stream the events
A 20-year-old man carrying a tactical rifle, another gun and 100 rounds of ammunition was held at gunpoint by an off-duty firefighter who stopped him from entering a Walmart in Missouri.
Panicked shoppers were sent fleeing when the man was spotted at the store in Springfield on Thursday afternoon.
Springfield police confirmed that an ‘armed individual’ was arrested, and no shots were fired.
Lt. Mike Lucas told the Springfield News-Leader that the man walked inside the Walmart carrying the rifle and another gun, as well as the ammunition.
Lucas says an off-duty firefighter held the suspect, a 20-year-old man, at gunpoint until police arrived.
He says: ‘His intent obviously was to cause chaos here, and he did that.’
The incident happened five days after a mass shooting at an El Paso, Texas, Walmart, left 22 people dead.
The 20-year-old man was arrested at a Walmart in Springfield, Missouri after he turned up to the story carrying an assault rifle, gun and carrying 100 rounds of ammunition. Police said he was armed but no shots were fired
Police said the man was held at gunpoint by an off-duty fireman who stopped him from entering the store on Thursday afternoon.
Lieutenant Mike Lucas said it was clear the man’s intent was to cause chaos. ‘His intent was not to cause peace or comfort…He’s lucky he’s alive still, to be honest’
Lucas said Springfield police officers arrived on scene three minutes after the initial 911 call. He said the scene was chaotic.
He described the suspect as ‘pretty stoic’ during the initial police contact. He said officers would be interviewing the suspect at the jail on Thursday to try to learn more about his motivations.
‘His intent was not to cause peace or comfort to anybody that was in the business here,’ Lucas said. ‘In fact, he’s lucky he’s alive still, to be honest.’
A fire marshal was called out to the scene to inspect the suspect’s car, a gray Mazda sedan that was left in the parking lot. Lucas said that was to ensure there were no bombs on the vehicle.
Lucas said police would be reviewing any surveillance video from the store and also checking the suspect’s social media accounts to see if he was live-streaming the events.
Springfield police posted about the incident on their Facebook page to make the public aware of the incident
The incident happened five days after a gunman entered a Walmart in El Paso, Texas and opened fire, killing 22 people