Springfield, MO (CBS) — Prosecutors on Friday charged a 20-year-old man with allegedly making a terrorist threat after he said he walked into a Missouri store wearing body armor and carrying a loaded rifle and handgun to test whether Walmart would honor his constitutional right to bear arms. The incident, just days after 22 people were killed during an attack at another Walmart in El Paso, Texas, caused a panic at the Springfield, Missouri, store.
Dmitriy Andreychenko walked through filming himself with his cellphone Thursday afternoon. No shots were fired and Andreychenko was arrested after he was stopped by an armed off-duty firefighter at the store.
“He was compliant with us, but his intent was not to cause peace or comfort to anybody that was in the business here,” Springfield police Lt. Mike Lucas told CBS affiliate KOLR-TV. “In fact, he’s lucky he’s alive still to be honest.”
In a statement announcing the charge, Greene County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Patterson compared the man’s actions to “falsely shouting fire in a theater causing a panic.” “Missouri protects the right of people to open carry a firearm, but that does not allow an individual to act in a reckless and criminal manner endangering other citizens,” Patterson said.
If convicted, the felony charge of making a terrorist threat in the second degree is punishable by up to four years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000, according to the prosecutor’s office. The charge means he showed reckless disregard for the risk of causing an evacuation or knowingly caused fear that lives were in danger.
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