A Walmart in Springfield, Missouri, turned into a scene of chaos when shoppers were convinced they were about to become victims of another mass shooting.
Police reported that a White man appearing to be in his 20s walked into the store wearing a bulletproof vest and fatigues, and armed with a "tactical rifle" and another gun with more than 100 rounds of ammunition.
He was seen pushing a shopping cart while filming a video of himself on his cellphone and making comments to customers.
Nobody was shot, but his appearance caused shoppers to panic.
Thursday afternoon's incident follows Saturday morning's domestic terrorism massacre at a Walmart in El Paso that claimed 22 lives.
When the young man in Missouri left the store through an emergency exit, an off-duty firefighter held him at gunpoint until police responding to a 911 call arrived at the scene.
Police didn't name the suspect, but he was identified through online jail records as Dmitriy Andreychenko, 20.
Lt. Mike Lucas with the Springfield Police Department said that the man is "lucky to be alive."
"He walked in here, heavily armed with body armor on, in military fatigues, and caused a great amount of panic inside the store."
According to the Springfield News-Leader, the incident occurred around 4:10 p.m. at the Walmart Neighborhood Market at 3150 W. Republic Road.
His motives are unknown, but it is clear his visit was a ruse to prey on the fears of civilians.
Lucas said that the store manager activated the fire alarm and told shoppers to evacuate the building.
"His intent obviously was to cause chaos here, and he did that."
The lieutenant said the suspect initially appeared "pretty stoic" when police arrived.
"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 added:
"Obviously, what's happened in Texas and Dayton and all that kind of stuff in the last seven days — that's on everybody's minds."
Police are continuing their investigation by checking the suspect's social media accounts to see if he was live-streaming his visit.
Walmart issued a statement that read:
"The behavior of a customer was concerning to those inside our store and out of caution, law enforcement was contacted."
According to the National Rifle Association's website, the open carrying of firearms is legal in the state of Missouri.
Gun rights activists were vexed over the detainment of the armed suspect in the right to carry state.
Fear from mass shootings have conditioned some civilians to stay indoors.
People challenged the outcome of the situation had the suspect been a person of color.
This user proposed a policy update for Walmart, but even that was easily dismissed.
A combined total of 31 people have died over the weekend from the El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, mass shootings.
Americans remain shell shocked as evidenced by Tuesday night's stampede in Times Square when tourists misinterpreted the sounds of a backfiring motorcycle as gun shots and scrambled away from a non-existent gunman.
This should not be accepted as America's new normal.
This shirt is available here.
@GregAbbott_TX/X
