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Armed man arrested at Missouri Walmart; no shots fired

Springfield police respond to a Walmart in Springfield, Mo., Thursday afternoon, Aug. 8, 2019, after reports of a man with a weapon in the store. Police in Springfield, Missouri, say they have arrested an armed man who showed up the Walmart store wearing body armor, sending panicked shoppers fleeing the store. (Harrison Keegan/The Springfield News-Leader via AP)
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — Police in Springfield, Missouri, say they have arrested an armed man who showed up a Walmart store wearing body armor, sending panicked shoppers fleeing the store.

Springfield police posted on Facebook that “an armed individual” was arrested. No shots were fired.

The Springfield News-Leader quoted Lt. Mike Lucas as saying that the man showed up Thursday afternoon wearing body armor and military-style clothing. He walked inside the Walmart carrying a “tactical rifle” and another gun. Lucas says the man had more than 100 rounds of 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.

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