A Walmart in Missouri went into lockdown after a bystander reported a man in the parking lot was behaving “erratically” and wielding a gun, reports the Kirksville Daily Express. The eyewitness reported that the man was holding a gun to his head.

Police located the vehicle and talked to the driver, who got out of his car without a fuss. No gun turned up in a subsequent search, but they did find a cellphone, which the man had been talking on when the passerby contacted the cops.

“We don’t take these things lightly,” Kirksville Police Chief Jim Hughes told the Kirksville Daily Express, “especially nowadays.”

The man was taken into custody but was not charged with any crime.

Is this the inevitable result of Walmart’s “If You See Something Say Something” collaboration with the Department of Homeland Security, where a video plays at the checkout counter asking shoppers to report to Walmart managers potential terrorist threats? An aura of paranoia has begun to emit in a widening radius around every Walmart parking lot? It’s Missouri, you’d think they’d know better what a gun looked like.

Report of armed man leads to lockdown at Wal-Mart [Kirksville Daily Express] (Thanks to Jcad!)

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