Walmart employees gathered outside the entrance to the Allentown Road location after a man with a gun entered the store Thursday afternoon.
Craig Kelly | The Lima News
LIMA — Details are emerging following an incident Thursday afternoon at the Allentown Road Walmart that prompted the evacuation of all staff and customers and a large response from multiple law enforcement agencies and other first responders.
According to a release by Lima Police Det. Steve Stechschulte, at about 4:49 p.m. Thursday, Lima Police officers responded to Walmart, 2450 Allentown Road, after receiving a call about a man with a gun. Shortly after responding, other agencies were quickly brought in, including the Allen County Sheriff’s Office and the Lima and American Township Fire Departments. According to the release, a white male suspect was reported to be pointing a gun at people inside the store.
The store was evacuated as officers arrived, according to Stechschulte. Employees gathered in the grass along the southeastern edge of the Walmart parking lot. Some Walmart employees could be seen informing arriving customers that the store was closed and asking them to leave the parking lot. Those employees refused to comment, directing any questions to Walmart’s corporate media relations office.
According to the release, patrol officers had made contact with the subject shortly after entering the store, but he backed himself into a corner and refused to come out.
By 5:20 p.m., officers wearing bulletproof vests and other tactical gear could be seen running into the west side entrance of the store, with the sound of an alarm able to be heard from inside the store. Fire department ambulances and a sheriff’s department crusier were deployed at the entryways to the parking lot off Allentown Road preventing other vehicles from entering the property.
According to the release, investigators arrived shortly after the patrol officers did, taking over the conversation with the distraught subject. The conversation continued for an hour and a half, Stechschulte said in the statement.
Around 5:40 p.m., amid growing concerns on social media that this was an active shooter situation, the Lima Police Department created a Facebook post alerting the public that it was not an active shooter situation but that there was “an ongoing event” at the store “with several police agencies in the area.” The post went on to call on the public to avoid the immediate area around Walmart.
Just before 6 p.m., the employees gathered at the edge of the parking lot were moved further into the adjacent parking lot in front of the former K-Mart location on Allentown Road. However, by 6:30 p.m., officers could be seen emerging from the store and sounds of cheers and applause could be heard from the employees in the other parking lot. The blockading ambulances and sheriff’s cruiser were removed and the parking lot was reopened to traffic.
According to the release, the male surrended to police without incident and without anyone being harmed. He was then transported to Mercy Health-St. Rita’s Medical Center for mental evaluation.
The incident remains under investigation and the identity of the subject is not yet being released, Stechschulte said in the statement.
