Police in Springfield, Missouri, said they arrested a man who showed up at a Walmart store carrying a rifle and wearing body armor, terrifying shoppers who fled from the store.
Springfield police posted on Facebook that “an armed individual” was arrested Thursday. No shots were fired.
The incident happened five days after a mass shooting at an El Paso, Texas, Walmart, left 22 people dead.
The Springfield News-Leader quoted Lt. Mike Lucas as saying that the man arrived Thursday afternoon wearing body armor and military-style clothing. He walked inside the Walmart carrying a “tactical rifle” and another gun. Lucas said the man had more than 100 rounds of ammunition.
He reportedly grabbed a shopping cart and began pushing it around while recording himself on a phone, Springfield’s KYTV reported. After being alerted to this, the store manager pulled a fire alarm and shoppers fled.
Police say Andreychenko also attempted to exit the store but was met by an armed off-duty fireman.
Lucas said an off-duty firefighter held the suspect – a 20-year-old man who was not immediately identified – at gunpoint until police arrived about three minutes after receiving an initial call.
“Thankfully, there weren’t any shots fired. I think it’s great that that off-duty fire man was here,” Lucas said.
Police in Missouri identified the armed suspect that entered a Springfield Walmart on Thursday as 20-year-old Dmitriy Nickolayvich Andreychenko.
Andreychenko was booked into the Greene County Jail at around 9:14 p.m. on an arresting charge of making a terroristic threat in the first degree, according to booking information from the Greene County Sheriff’s Office.
(AP)
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17 Responses
This is a classic example when a good guy with a GUN potentially saved lives.
My instincts tell me that if this was a Muslim right after some Muslim attack (like the marathon bombing) then most of the leftist media would be shouting from the top of their lungs Islamaphobia (similarly if he was Black they would be screaming RACIST and RACIAL PROFILING)
The off duty fireman should get the presidential medal of freedom. That man is a hero!
If this off-duty fireman was denied his right to carry concealed gun the whole thing could ended up in a tragedy.
It strikes me that this guy wasn’t into doing any actual shooting. He just wanted his name and picture in the media. If he’d been a real threat we’d be seeing casualty figures, not sighs of relief. Allowing open carry in a store full of people is nuts. If the guy had been a real threat the “good guy with a gun” would have been killed too. A handgun is not going to go up against an assault rifle.
I don’t get this open carry business. If you want to keep a gun at home, or transport it in your car, I can see that. But to walk into a store or other public place carrying something you could accomplish a massacre with? Pay attention to the fact that the person who arrested him was an off-duty fireman – a trained person, not someone with an imagination primed by movies and video games.
We need some major overhaul on our gun laws – and without the money-and-greed fueled input of the NRA.
The meshuganer should have the book thrown at him for domestic terrorism and attempted murder for every person that was in that store. His social media should be checked for his manifesto….no doubt he has one full of hate. Hero guy should run for congress/senate
Maybe the guy was afraid to go to walmart unarmed and without body armor??
“Maniac” is the prime description by the president and the gun lobby of who is really responsible for the horrifying mass shootings.
Responsible people like police and firemen should be allowed to carry weapons, not the general public.
States need to rethink their carry laws in light of the serious problem of gun crime in the U.S.
Midwest- How is a gun in my house going to help me if I get mugged? And why would I leave my gun in a car where it can easily be stolen, and still doesn’t help me if I get mugged? Your arguments about open carriers being shot first are legitimate, which is why most people with carry permits carry concealed. The argument for open carry is that criminals will see people are armed and go elsewhere because they don’t want to get shot (this applies more to smaller crimes like robbery than to mass shootings). Just because one person has a pistol and one has a rifle, doesn’t mean the guy with the pistol has no chance. This is not some video game, where the guy with the higher-level weapon wins (and by the way, it wasn’t an assault rifle). A lot of times pistols are advantageous in close-quarters fights because they are shorter, harder to grab out of someone’s hand, and don’t get caught on stuff, so a handgun in fact can go up against a rifle. The person who “arrested” him (actually just held him at gunpoint, firemen don’t have arrest powers) had no more training in guns than any other person with a concealed carry permit. As for the convenient point of blame for all ills in the country, the NRA- Why do you think they are so powerful? It’s because they have a massive support base and many people who are not members but support gun rights.
By the way, I’m not saying this guy is ok- He is a meshuginah who clearly has no understanding of what is and is not ok to do. However, one nut doesn’t make every misinformed thing you say about guns and gun owners true.
Now let him lose his license to carry(if ever had one) concealed or open this guy just lost his right to carry..but with the flimsy backround checks wouldbt be surprised if we hear mass shooting with him as perpetrator..
Midwest2 you are wrong it happens to be he was a fireman he could have been a plumber for that matter, firemen dont get any firearms training he was just a private citizen with a gun. next you say if you wants to have a gun at home i can understand…. oh alot of good a gun at home will do you when someone starts shooting up the walmart you’re in seems you dont like the nra either ill tell you what ill stay here with my guns and you can go to Venezuela were all guns are banned let me know how you like it. fact is gun deaths are a spec in the ocean compared to children drowning in pools i dont here you screaming we need pool control
As a matter of fact I am very much in favor of pool control. You’re right in that pools are dangerous for children. If you have a pool you need to fence it in and make sure the fence is kid-proof, and I think there ought to be a law about it. In fact, in my town there is – no having an “attractive nuisance” without fencing it off. However, one doesn’t cancel out the other. We need to control anything which is a hazard to innocent people – pools, guns, driving while texting, etc. And if you check the stats, most gun deaths aren’t mass shootings – they’re suicides and accidents (especially with kids). Nowhere in the Torah does it state that “you have the right to do whatever you want to.” The Torah expects us to be responsible people (build a wall around your roof, no pits in public places, no keeping a dangerous dog, etc.”
The Torah teaches responsible social behavior. Walking around with a combat weapon on your shoulder is not responsible. You could drop it (accidents happen) and those guns can literally shoot through the average wall. You could get drunk and lose your temper. Someone could take it away from you. Lots of possibilities here. I carried an assault rifle on guard duty in Israel – and believe me, they aren’t toys for untrained civilians to fool with.
Of course, if you’re not Jewish none of this is significant for you, and I sometimes get the feeling that some of the most extreme posters here either aren’t Jewish or haven’t a clue what the Jewish religion teaches.
What law was broken?
rt, meshuhana maniacs like you shout never be allowed to carry or poses a gun.
To MoisheInGreenland: Yes, this is a great example – it happens every … year? … 5 years?. The guy with the hundred rounds and assault weapon did not open fire when he could have, inside the store. If he did, that good guy fireman could have not stopped the first 10 or so murders. As long as guys with assault rifles don’t open fire, a good guy with a gun can hold them until the police arrive.
MidW – the Torah teaches responsible social behavior which begs the question – where do your hashkafos on gun control come from? Rabbonim paskin that shuls should have armed congregants and many rabbonim carry themselves.And on Shabbos, too. This is unfortunately the world we live in. So before you begin to malign armed socially responsible Jews, have a conversation about gun control with your LOR.