Armed man wearing body armor arrested in an Atlanta Publix

[southernhybrid]

https://www.ajc.com/news/man-took-6-guns-body-armor-into-publix-at-atlantic-station-cops-say/44Y6FBBM4FDVDJQABYQTBOADBU/

Just two days after a mass shooting left 10 people dead at a Colorado supermarket, Atlanta police arrested a 22-year-old man who walked into a Publix at Atlantic Station with six guns and body armor.


Police were called to the grocery store on Atlantic Drive just after 1:30 p.m. Wednesday and met with a manager who told them a man came in with a rifle and headed straight toward a bathroom, authorities said.

And, not that his race should matter, but this was a Black man who had an arrest record. I hope this thread won't deteriorate into another nasty discussion about racism. Yes. Racism exists, but we don't need to make every single discussion about it.

Thanks to a shopper who notified the manager when he heard sounds that sounded like the man was loading a rifle, everyone acted appropriately, and the man was arrested without any violence. It certainly sounds as if it may have been planning a copycat mass murder.

Officers at the scene spotted the man leaving the bathroom and quickly took him into custody. According to police, his weapons included two long guns and four pistols, all of which were concealed.

I read in a different news article that this man had been arrested for assault recently, but I don't think he had been convicted of a crime yet. It doesn't state whether he owned the guns legally or not. There are a lot of details that we don't know about this man. A psych eval was ordered, but there hasn't been any other information regarding the man's medical history.

With all the disturbed people carrying guns in my country, I guess there's really no public place where we feel totally safe. Sadly, I don't expect a thing will happen regarding more reasonable gun control legislation.

 

[ZiprHead]

Note that the person that reported the possible shooter was also black.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

Something's wrong: Reported when someone heard him loading a rifle, and yet the police stopped him before he fired? When did the cops get transporters?

 

[Valjean]

What's the arrested man's explanation of this incident?

 

[Gospel]

What's the arrested man's explanation of this incident?

A mental health issue.

 

[southernhybrid]

Note that the person that reported the possible shooter was also black.

The only reason I knew the race of the suspect was because the AJC had a photo of him. Considering that ATL is a Black majority city, it's not surprising that the man who notified the store manager was also Black. Again, I didn't want to make this about race, but it's usually White males who do this type of thing. Both the store and the suspect were fortunate that he wasn't able to carry out his crime, assuming that he planned on shooting up the store.

From what I read in the article, the police arrived before the man left the men's room. The shoppers had been quickly evacuated from the store ASAP. The suspect was surprised to see the police. They immediately apprehended him as he walked out of the men's room without a struggle. I haven't seen an update on this, other than that the man is being held without bond for now. I guess they want to get the results of the mental health exam before they decide what to do next. I did read that he obtained his guns legally. So, here we are again, with a suspect, who may have been planning a mass murder, who most likely had some mental health issues, but was able to obtain 6 guns legally.

And, guess what? Our idiotic governor wants to allow anyone without a criminal history to obtain a concealed carry permit without going through the usual background checks. Currently concealed carry permits expire after five years and then you have to reapply and go through another thorough background check. You might even have to be finger printed, but I'm not sure. My husband used to carry concealed but he finally realized it wasn't the smartest thing to do so he let his permit expire, much to my relief. I simply assume that most men and a good percentage of women in Georgia are carrying concealed, so I try not to piss anyone off when I'm out.