Patterico's Pontifications

8/9/2019

Missouri Walmart Incident (5 days after El Paso Walmart shooting) — UPDATED

Filed under: Crime,Law,Second Amendment — DRJ @ 12:02 pm



[Headline from DRJ]

Yesterday afternoon: Police: Man with rifle, bulletproof vest arrested at Walmart store:

[Springfield Police Lt.] Lucas said the man showed up to the business with body armor and military-style clothing and then walked inside carrying a “tactical rifle” and another gun. 

As shoppers were panicking and fleeing the store, Lucas said the man was taking video on his phone and making comments to people while pushing a shopping cart. 

Lucas said the suspect then walked out of the store, where an off-duty firefighter held the suspect at gunpoint until police arrived moments later.

Today: Police ID man arrested with rifle at Springfield Walmart:

Dmitriy N. Andreychenko, 20, was booked into the jail on suspicion of first-degree making a terrorist threat.

Kudos to police that arrived in 3 minutes and especially to the armed off-duty firefighter who detained the departing young man. A bystander added her appreciation for the police and firefighter, and this:

Within seconds after she pulled into the lot, Belew said, police arrived.

Someone shouted at the man, “Why are you walking around in a tactical jacket carrying a rifle?” Belew said. “I did not hear what he said back.

“The guy told police he was keeping his phone on for his own safety,” she said.

“He did not seem surprised. He did not seem angry. He looked like he had accomplished whatever he wanted to accomplish.”

The local paper interviewed a Springfield defense lawyer and former prosecutor about the legal issues involved. Please click the links and help out the local newspaper. It did an excellent job covering this story.

Was this young man considering whether to shoot, making a political point about guns, seeking a little copycat fame, or does he have a cruel sense of humor?

HT urbanleftbehind.

UPDATE 8/10/2019: Armed man at Walmart says he was testing right to bear arms.

— DRJ

24 Responses to “Missouri Walmart Incident (5 days after El Paso Walmart shooting) — UPDATED”

  1. We should be prepared to expect more of this before Labor Day.

    It has ‘triggers’ copycats. When going to the PO or grocery store of late, do you briefly scan the place and patrons, just in case?

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  2. ^ triggered. Typo.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  3. But everybody whine if actual first-world nations warn their citizens about this madness.

    john (54be15)

  4. It’s odd you should say that, DCSCA I wrote the current post and this post at the same time, but both concern possible copycats. The next one begins: “I fear we may see more of these stories for awhile.”

    DRJ (15874d)

  5. Huh… there’s a good guy with a gun after all.

    whembly (4605df)

  6. I’m going with “making a political point about guns”. Foolish and stupid, yes, but I’m wondering if his actions are even a crime.

    From what reports I’ve read, he did not ever remove the handgun from the holster, and he did not ever handle the rifle beyond anything that would have occurred incidentally from having a rifle slung in front of his chest. He does not appear to have ever pointed either firearm at anyone, nor brandished either of them.

    Also, looking at the photo of him surrendering to police, I don’t think that is body armor or tactical gear that he is wearing. It looks more like a hunting/fishing vest.

    According to public court records, his only previous interaction with the judicial system appears to be not having a current insurance card during a traffic stop two years ago. (He pleaded guilty and paid a $52.50 fine).

    According to his social media, he was unhappy about Walmart’s decision to no longer permit individuals under 21 to purchase firearms. He complained that he could legally carry a firearm in Walmart, but that he could not purchase one there.

    Hal Duston (b5221d)

  7. He could have made his point with a sign. Doing it this way has exposed him to criminal law problems.

    DRJ (15874d)

  8. I thought that was the fashion during the Vietnam era – “Old enough to be drafted, not old enough to _____________”

    urbanleftbehind (5eecdb)

  9. True, and thanks for the tip, ulb.

    DRJ (15874d)

  10. Nyet, Dmitriy, nyet. I suggest Kalashnikov… or a sign. Perhaps letter to editor

    steveg (354706)

  11. Too bad he isn’t a dreamer (i guess I don’t know though)
    He’d be untouchable then

    steveg (354706)

  12. Might be a Ukie (not to be confused with an Okie) and not a Russian, that would add a layer of complexity.

    urbanleftbehind (5eecdb)

  13. Whatever else this clown is, one thing’s for sure: He’s too stupid to own guns.

    nk (dbc370)

  14. And if he’s convicted on this charge, he never will (lawfully) again:
    https://www.ktts.com/2019/08/09/springfield-man-charged-with-making-terrorist-threat/

    nk (dbc370)

  15. Wikipedia lists two celebrities with the last nane, a soccer player born in an oblast that borders the Ukraine, and a Moscow born actress who was married to Maximilian Schell from 1985 to 2005.

    Kishnevi (b1c03d)

  16. I blame his high school civics class.

    Freedom of expression does not always mean freedom from responsibility.

    steveg (354706)

  17. Are we gonna see an article about how Biden Lewandowski’s a female reporter?

    steveg (354706)

  18. She should have collapsed like a Brazilian soccer player
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVksdN4QnvA

    steveg (354706)

  19. “The local paper interviewed a Springfield defense lawyer and former prosecutor about the legal issues involved. Please click the links and help out the local newspaper. It did an excellent job covering this story.”

    In the material above (from the original post), the link now leads to a “blank story” with the following note:

    “Editor’s note: To address a potential conflict, this story was updated late Friday to remove comments by a local attorney whose firm announced that it was representing the man charged by prosecutors with making a terrorist threat at the Springfield Walmart….”

    If anyone’s interested, the text of the original story (so far as I can tell, & via the waybackmachine) reads as follows:

    Longtime Springfield defense attorney and former Greene County prosecutor Dee Wampler said Thursday night that the man who carried an assault rifle into a Walmart could very well have broken the law. But the simple act of carrying an assault rifle — even if loaded — is not necessarily a crime, Wampler said, when reached at home.

    It all depends on the details of the situation.

    For example, if a Walmart employee had told the man with the gun to leave and he did not, the man could be charged with a misdemeanor.

    Or, Wampler said, if the man with the gun displayed the weapon in a “rude, threatening or angry” manner, he could be charged with a felony. Wampler said that what the man said to people and how he displayed the weapon should be available to authorities from not only the man’s own cellphone — he reportedly was filming and talking to customers while in the store — but also from in-store surveillance cameras that, presumably, are inside Walmart.

    “If he was looking at people in a menacing way or if he was saying something to other customers that was frightening to them — those would be factors,” Wampler said. It’s also possible that the man with the gun could be charged with a peace disturbance, a misdemeanor, Wampler said.

    In determining a peace disturbance, Wampler said, authorities more than likely would take into account that this incident in Springfield “comes on the heels” of recent mass shootings across the nation.

    Q! (6c180d)

  20. Interesting. Thanks for posting on that, Q!

    DRJ (15874d)

  21. I updated the post: “Armed man at Walmart says he was testing right to bear arms.”

    DRJ (15874d)

  22. Given the reported facts, how was the firefighter not arrested? He threatened the guy with the rifle by pointing a loaded weapon at him; that sounds significantly worse than what the arrested guy has been reported to have done.

    MattJ (1d7a8a)

  23. At the time, no one was arrested. Both were questioned at the scene according to the reports. The arrest and charges came later.

    DRJ (15874d)

  24. The fireman used his gun for what guns are for. To protect himself and others from an idiot who thinks guns are fashion accessories, or political statements, or magical fetishes, or toys, or who knows what, and “thinks” is probably the wrong verb, anyway. The clown was not thinking.

    nk (dbc370)


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