SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — The Latest on the arrest of man carrying a rifle and wearing body armor at a Springfield, Missouri, Walmart (all times local):
4:15 p.m.
Prosecutors have charged a 20-year-old man with making a terrorist threat in the second degree by causing a panic at a Walmart store in Springfield, Missouri.
Greene County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Patterson said in a news release Friday that Missouri protects the right to carry a firearm, but that right does not allow an individual to act in a reckless and criminal manner endangering other citizens.
A probable cause statement released Friday says Dmitriy Andreychenko recorded himself as he walked in the store carrying an “AR style rifle” slung across his chest and wearing a ballistic vest. He also had a handgun on his right hip.
The affidavit says he said he was recording himself in case somebody was going to tell him to leave. He said he wanted to know if Walmart honored the Second Amendment.
He is currently being held at the Greene County Jail on a $10,000 bond.
Making a terroristic threat in the second degree is a felony punishable by up to four years in the Missouri Department of Corrections with a fine of up to $10,000.
“Missouri protects the right of people to open carry a firearm, but that right does not allow an individual to act in a reckless and criminal manner endangering other citizens. As Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes famously explained, ‘the most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man in falsely shouting fire in a theatre causing a panic.’” writes Greene County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Patterson.
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9:50 a.m.
Springfield police have identified the man who caused a panic at a Walmart store in Springfield, Missouri.
Police say 20-year-old Dmitriy Andreychenko was carrying a “tactical rifle” and another gun, along with more than 100 rounds of ammunition when he walked through the store Thursday afternoon, causing shoppers to flee. He did not fire any shots and surrendered after he was stopped and held at gunpoint by an off-duty firefighter.
Andreychenko is being held in the Greene County jail on suspicion of first-degree making a terrorist threat.
Springfield officials say the Greene County prosecutor is reviewing the case for possible charges.
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8:42 a.m.
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 by an off-duty firefighter.
No shots were fired and the man was arrested after surrendering Thursday, Springfield police said. No one was injured.
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.
