Man armed with loaded rifle arrested at Missouri Walmart

Five days after 22 people were killed at a Walmart store in El Paso, Texas, panicked shoppers fled a Walmart in Springfield, Missouri, after a man carrying a rifle and wearing body armor walked around the store before being stopped.

In this undated booking photo provided by the Greene County, Missouri, Sheriff's Office shows 20-year-old Dmitriy Andreychenko.
AP

In this undated booking photo provided by the Greene County, Missouri, Sheriff's Office shows 20-year-old Dmitriy Andreychenko.

A 20-year-old man was arrested on Thursday after he walked into a Walmart store in Missouri dressed in body armor and carrying a loaded rifle and 100 rounds of ammunition less than a week after mass shootings in Texas and Ohio left 32 dead, police said.

Dmitriy Andreychenko was charged with making a terrorist threat after alarming customers inside the store in Springfield, about 100 km southeast of Kansas City, police in a statement that provided no further details.

TRT World's Harry Horton brings more on the incident.

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The incident followed a shooting on Saturday at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, that killed 22. Hours late, a gunman opened fire with an assault-style rifle in downtown Dayton, Ohio, killing nine people. The shooter was also killed.

Andreychenko was arrested after walking out of the store with his weapon, Springfield police said. No shots were fired in Thursday's incident.

"I wanted to know if Walmart honored the Second Amendment," a probable cause statement released Friday with the charges quoted Andreychenko as saying.

It was a "really scary, dangerous situation," police at the scene told media, adding that they would investigate the man's social media accounts to try to determine if a threat was intended.

Missouri is an "open carry" state that allows people to openly bear firearms without a special permit, but there are some restrictions, for example, on convicted felons.

US President Donald Trump and the first lady visited El Paso and Dayton on Thursday to show support for the victims, their families, and first responders.

The visits have drawn some criticism as protesters and some Democrat presidential candidates have accused Trump of inflaming tension with anti-immigrant and racially charged rhetoric.

While the motive for the Dayton shooting is unclear, the accused gunman in El Paso had posted an anti-immigrant screed online.

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