With the recent mass shooting at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas that left 20-plus people dead and scores more wounded, there’s nothing more startling to the public, and especially the police, than an armed man armed with a rifle in the vicinity of…a Walmart. That’s what happened in Springfield, Missouri.
Seeing that there are only two reasons for someone to do this: it was either poor judgment in which the person of interest should know better given recent headlines or this was a planned attack that was stopped by law enforcement. We don’t know what the intent was, but Springfield police said this guy is lucky to be alive and “his intent was not to cause peace or comfort to anybody that was in the business.”
A photo of the suspect shows him armed with what appears to be an AR-15 rifle or some variant of it. He remains in police custody. An off-duty fireman with a concealed carry permit was credited with stopping the suspect, holding him at gunpoint until police arrived. So, a good guy with a gun stopped a possible attack, but I'm sure the anti-gun wingnuts will keep their heads in the sand (via KOLR 10):
The incident discussed above is at Walmart Neighborhood Market located at 3150 W. Republic Rd. An armed individual was confronted at that location and arrested. The investigation is ongoing
— Springfield PD (@SGFPolice) August 8, 2019
#BREAKING 20-year-old man with rifle,handgun & body armor arrested at Walmart on Republic.
— Heather Lewis (@HeatherLewisTV) August 8, 2019
SFD Police say he had 100+ rounds of ammunition. Off-duty firefighter with concealed carry gun held him at gunpoint until officers arrived about 3 minutes later:https://t.co/T4y26bLYuB
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The Springfield Police Department tweeted out Thursday that an armed man was arrested at the Walmart Neighborhood Market on W. Republic Road.
Later, Lt. Mike Lucas with Springfield Police confirmed it was a white man in his 20s, armed with a rifle that was taken into custody.
“His intent was not to cause peace or comfort to anybody that was in the business. In fact, he’s lucky to be alive still to be honest,” he told reporters.
Lucas said Thursday evening that no shots were fired and nobody was injured. However, the man is still in custody.
[…]
According to Lt. Lucas, an off duty fireman who was at the Walmart is to thank in some part for the young man’s arrest.
For now, investigators will review both the Walmart security footage and the armed 20-year-old’s social media profiles.
Lucas says there may have been a Facebook live posted by the man. Officers plan to watch the video and learn his intentions.
We’ll keep you updated.
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