A former firefighter who says he held a man at gunpoint Thursday for carrying a tactical rifle and a bunch of ammunition through a Springfield Walmart hopes his actions prevented another mass shooting. Terrified shoppers ran outside during the incident in southwest Missouri and the suspect, who was wearing body armor, followed.

Former fireman shares story about holding armed man at gunpoint outside Springfield Walmart

The unidentified citizen tells Springfield television station KOLR he got out his gun and told the man to keep his arms in the air until police arrived.

“He complied and was compliant the whole time,” he says. “He was videotaping on his phone, which was kind of odd.”

The citizen was shopping with his wife when the event unfolded.

“I’ve been in public safety for a long time,” he says. “Even though I’m no longer in public safety, I still feel that I can still protect people if I need to. That was my intention. Hopefully my actions prevented something like El Paso from happening.”

The armed suspect was arrested. No charges have been filed.

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