The Missouri man who walked into a Walmart wearing body armor and wielding a loaded “tactical rifle” — just days after the El Paso and Dayton shootings — told cops he was testing his constitutional right to bear arms.
“I wanted to know if that Walmart honored the Second Amendment,” said Dmitriy Andreychenko, according to local authorities.
“He stated his intentions were to buy grocery bags and did not intend for anybody to act negatively towards him,” an officer explained in a probable cause statement. “The rifle had a loaded magazine inserted but a round was not chambered. He also had a handgun on his right hip which was loaded with one round in the chamber.”
Andreychenko, 20, allegedly told cops that he “did not believe people would react the way they did” when he strolled into the Springfield Walmart on Thursday with his weapons.
“He said, ‘This is Missouri, I understand if we were somewhere else like New York or California, people would freak out,’” recalled the interviewing officer. “He said he brought a rifle and body armor due to three recent shootings and a stabbing and he wanted to protect himself. He stated he walked into the store, heard the fire alarm go off and walked out of the store. An individual then pointed a gun at him and told him to put his hands up.”
Cops said Andreychenko was detained by an armed off-duty firefighter and later placed under arrest.
He allegedly mentioned the shootings at the Walmart in El Paso and bar district in Dayton, Ohio that occurred last weekend — and noted how he told his wife, Angelice, that he was going to put his Second Amendment rights to the test in the wake of what happened.
“He said he wanted to see if the Walmart manager would respect his Second Amendment right. She told him it was not a smart idea,” the probable cause statement says. “She told him that people were going to take this seriously due to the recent events (referring to the recent mass shootings in the country). He told her he called multiple Walmarts to see if it was. She said he was just an immature boy.”
Andreychenko allegedly went to his sister, Anastasia, at one point and asked if she would videotape him going inside the store.
“He called it a social experiment,” according to the probable cause statement. “She told him it was a bad idea and that she did not want to do that.”
Andreychenko went on with his plan anyway and is now looking at a felony charge of making a terrorist threat in the second degree. He faces up to four years in prison and a $10,000 fine, if convicted.
“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,” said Greene County prosecutor Dan Patterson in a statement Friday. “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.’”
Speaking to the Associated Press, a spokesman for Walmart added: “This was a reckless act designed to scare people, disrupt our business and it put our associates and customers at risk. We applaud the quick actions of our associates to evacuate customers from our store, and we’re thankful no one was injured.”
Twenty-two people were killed and dozens more injured during the shooting at the Walmart in El Paso. Police believe the suspected gunman, Patrick Crusius, may have been fueled by an alleged hatred for Hispanics. A racist, anti-immigrant manifesto that he allegedly authored was found online after the massacre — which spoke of a “Hispanic invasion” in Texas.
Gun-related incidents have surged at Walmarts nationwide since the shooting, with four others reported since Saturday.
A Florida man was arrested Sunday for threatening to “shoot up” his local Walmart — later telling cops he was inspired by the El Paso and Dayton killers.
“He was intrigued with the shootings over the last couple of days,” said Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister at a press conference. “This type of behavior seeks to instill fear in people and it will not be tolerated.”
With Post wires
