As many call for stricter gun control laws and even abolishing the Second Amendment, another possible mass shooting was prevented after an armed off-duty firefighter used his weapon to detain an armed man wearing tactical gear at a Walmart in Missouri Thursday evening.
The firefighter according to Springfield Police detained the suspect "until officers arrived on scene and took the suspect into custody.”
“No injuries were reported and no shots were fired. At this time, the investigation is on-going and we are working to determine his motives,” reads a statement by the police department on Facebook.
The incident took place at the Walmart at 3150 W. Republic Rd. at approximately 4:30 p.m. local time.
The police issued another statement after the suspect was taken into custody that they “do not believe there is a threat to the public at this time” and that there was “more info to come.”
According to local outlet KY3, Springfield PD confirmed that the man was wearing tactical gear and had loaded weapons, including “over one hundred rounds of ammunition.”
KY3 describes the incident as follows:
The Springfield Police Department says it responded to a call of an active shooter at the Walmart Neighborhood Market at Republic Rd., near Golden Ave., Thursday evening.
The Springfield Police Department arrived on scene within three minutes of the call. Police stated that a young white male, appearing to be in his twenties, pulled up to the Walmart, where he donned body armor and military fatigues. Police say the man had tactical weapons.
Police then say the man walked into the Walmart: Neighborhood Market where he grabbed a cart and began pushing it around the store. Police say the man was recording himself walking through the store via a cell phone.
The store manager at the Neighborhood Market pulled a fire alarm, urging people to escape the store.
Police say the man then made his way out an emergency exit where a former firefighter held the man at gunpoint. At that moment Springfield Police arrived on scene and detained the man.
Springfield Police Lt. Mike Lucas said it was clear the man meant to cause chaos.
"His intent was not to cause peace or comfort," said Lucas. "He's lucky he's alive still, to be honest."
Lt. Lucas added that while not much is known at this time, the suspect "certainly had the capability the potential to harm people."
"All we know is the fact that he walked in here heavily armed with body armor on, in military fatigues and caused a great amount of panic inside the store. So he certainly had the capability the potential to harm people," he said, according to CNN.
"And then obviously what's happened in Texas and Dayton and all that kind of stuff in the last seven days -- that's on everybody's mind," Lucas added.
Tensions run high just five days after a mass shooting at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas that left 22 people killed and several injured, and another just a day later in Dayton, Ohio, that killed at least nine.