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‘Off-Duty’ Firefighter Stops Heavily-Armed Man Outside Of A Walmart In Missouri

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Lexi Lonas Contributor
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An armed man who was reportedly wearing body armor and carrying tactical weapons with more than 100 rounds of ammunition around a Walmart in Missouri was held at gunpoint Thursday afternoon by an “off-duty” firefighter.

Described by some reports as a “former” firefighter, the good Samaritan waited with the heavily-armed man until authorities arrived.

The Springfield Police Department was called at around 4:10 p.m. on Thursday afternoon after the armed man walked into Walmart, grabbed a cart and started recording himself while walking around the store, according to KY3.

The store manager proceeded to pull the fire alarm to get everyone out of the store. The armed man went through an emergency exit and that is when the former firefighter sprung into action, the police say.

The former firefighter pulled out his gun and held the man at gunpoint until the police arrived. The police arrived to put the man in custody within three minutes of receiving the call of an active shooter, KY3 reported.

In a Facebook post by the police department, they described the suspect as an “armed white male in his twenties.” The department announced there were no injuries and no shots were fired. (RELATED: 20 People Dead After El Paso Shooting, Governor Says)

The motive is unknown right now. Police Lt. Mike Lucas says the armed man may have streamed the incident on a Facebook Live, Ozarks First reported.

“Walmart has hundreds of cameras,” according to Lucas. “Every footstep he took here is going to chronicle and document his actions.”

Police are searching the man’s vehicle for more weapons. Shoppers hid outside of Walmart and at nearby businesses during the incident, KY3 reported.

“His intent obviously was to cause chaos here, and he did that,” Lucas told The Springfield News-Leader.