Maine caller phones Walmart asking to buy assault weapon "for school tomorrow"

Occurred November 14, 2013.


A young man called the Walmart store in Newport, Maine, asking if they sold assault rifles, stating, "I need it for school tomorrow."  Upon transfer to the sporting goods department (!), he hung up before transfer was complete. No caller ID was determined.

As a result, area schools and police were put on alert.

From an article:

Newport and Pittsfield schools were placed on alert Friday after a young male called a local Walmart on Thursday, asked if the store sold assault rifles and reportedly said, “I need it for school tomorrow,” according to Newport police. 

Newport police Chief Leonard Macdaid said security at Walmart in Palmyra called him on Thursday afternoon to report the call made to the store. 

“He asked if they had assault rifles there,” Macdaid said on Friday morning. “When the lady told him, ‘I’m not sure, I’ll transfer you to sporting goods,’ the young male said, ‘I need it for school tomorrow.’” 

Macdaid said the young male hung up before the transfer was complete and no caller ID was available. 

“We have no idea where the call came from,” said Macdaid. “We’re erring on the side of caution and have put out a statewide police bulletin.” 

Maine State Police and Pittsfield police were also made aware of the indirect threat, said Macdaid. 

The woman at Walmart said the young male who called “wasn’t irate or threatening. He was talking calmly,” said Macdaid. 

All eight of RSU 19’s schools began operating their “shelter in place” procedures, Superintendent Greg Potter said Friday. The schools are controlling access to buildings and are restricting outdoor activities. The procedures may continue into next week, he said.

Read more here: http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/2013/11/14/2797650/shots-fired-in-airport-thruway.html#storylink=cpy

Walmart.  Save money.  Die faster.

Minnesota man purchased rifle and ammunition from Walmart for use in murder plot against ex-wife's husband

Occurred January 6, 2013.


John Edwin Bemis III purchased a .22 rifle and ammunition from a Walmart store in Hermantown, Minnesota, which was then used by his ex-wife, Marie Majerle, in a murder attempt that they had plotted together, to kill her current husband. 

After purchasing the gun and ammo from Walmart, Bemis carefully instructed Majerle on how to use the gun to murder the husband, how to dispose of the gun, and how to get away with him and their 14-year old daughter.  He also attempted to shave off the serial number.

She attempted the murder, but only wounded the husband

From an article (bolding added):

The complaint said Bemis, Marie Majerle and their daughter traveled to the Miller Hill Mall in Duluth. Bemis left them and went to the Super Wal-Mart Center in Hermantown, where he purchased the .22-caliber ammunition and returned to the mall. 

Back at the residence, Bemis allegedly continued the conspiracy by showing Marie Majerle how to load and unload the rifle. He showed her that it was a semi-automatic rifle and could be fired more than one time by simply pulling the trigger. He then showed her where the safety was before he went into the basement and drilled the serial numbers off the rifle, the complaint said. 

Marie Majerle said Bemis placed the rifle in the vehicle she would be driving. She said he advised her where to discard the rifle after the shooting and to take a change of clothes so she could burn the ones she was wearing after the shooting. 

According to the complaint, Marie Majerle told investigators that Bemis had a job opportunity in Arizona and the only thing preventing him, Marie Majerle and their child from leaving was Richard Majerle. She also told investigators that she was convinced Bemis would have killed Richard Majerle because he had made comments about possibly conducting a drive-by shooting of the victim as he went to work or at his home. 

Police viewed a Wal-Mart surveillance video showing Bemis purchasing the ammunition found in Marie Majerle’s car after the shooting, the complaint said. Investigators said they also found the clothing she was to have used if her attempt to kill Richard Majerle had been successful. 

According to the complaint, during Tuesday’s interview with investigators, Marie Majerle said she had decided not to kill Richard Majerle when she went to his home but instead to shoot and wound him. However, she said, when she opened the door to the sauna and pointed the gun at the victim, he flinched in a manner that resulted in the gunshot striking him in a location (between the neck and shoulder) she had not anticipated.

Walmart.  Save money.  Die faster.

Pennsylvania man shoots and kills girlfriend with shotgun shells purchased at Walmart

Occurred May 21, 2013.


Gregory Twyman, 44, posted a picture on Facebook of shotgun shells he had purchased at Walmart the week before and announced his plans to kill his girlfriend, in Chester County, Pennsylvania.

The next day, as he planned, he shot his girlfriend, Jamica Woods, several times in the torso with his shotgun.  He then called 911 to turn himself in.

From an article (bolding added):

"Jamica Woods was a kind and loving mother," District Attorney Tom Hogan said in a statement. "This crime was a cold-blooded execution. We will seek justice for Jamica's death."
Woods was killed by several shotgun wounds to her torso. 

In Hogan's notice of intent to seek the death penalty, he says Twyman has "a significant history of felony convictions involving the use or threat of violence to the person," an aggravating circumstance in support of a death sentence. 

The day before the shooting, Twyman posted a photo of a shotgun shell he bought at Walmart on his Facebook page. 

A friend asked what it was, and he identified it as a shell, according to court documents. 

The friend said: "I'm calling the ATF on your ass now...LOL...." 

Twyman wrote: "Gon be too late." 

Another friend wrote: "CIA FBI ATF u know snitches be lurking amongst us on here… lol." 

Twyman replied: "Once I handle my business I don’t give a f---!" 

Then, on May 21, authorities say, he called 911 and said: "I need the police, I just shot my girlfriend."  

The prosecution's death penalty notice will be formally entered when Twyman is arraigned on Thursday.

From another article and news video (bolding added):

Chester County District Attorney Thomas Hogan called it a "premeditated and cruel." 

"This was not an argument, this was a pre-planned execution," Hogan said. 

Hogan said that Twyman took his time to reload the shotgun to deliver a second shot. 

Twyman, 44, told police that after weeks of fighting he decided to shoot Woods, 37, with shotgun shells he bought "last week at Walmart." 

Police say Twyman predicted the shooting on his Facebook page. The day before the homicide police say that Twyman made his Facebook profile photo a shotgun shell and the banner photo of his own shotgun, according to the affidavit.

Walmart.  Save money.  Die faster.

15-year old New Mexico teen who killed five family members had intended on mass shooting at Walmart

Shooter Nehemia Griego, age 15

A 15-year old boy, Nehemiah Griego, used an AR-15 assault rifle to shoot his two parents and three younger siblings in the head, killing them.  He then loaded up his car with his weapons and intended to drive to a local Walmart for a mass shooting.  His father was a pastor and prison minister.

From an article:

Authorities believe a 15-year-old New Mexico teen accused of shooting his parents and three younger siblings to death over the weekend planned to drive to a nearby Wal-Mart, kill more people there and eventually die in a shootout with police, the Albuquerque Journal reports. 

Nehemiah Griego packed loaded weapons, including an assault rifle, into the family car in preparation for the alleged attack, according to the newspaper. 

But before he could carry out his plan, the teen reportedly called and related his crime to a friend who convinced him to meet at Calvary Chapel. 

According to the Journal, Griego stayed at the church for hours before telling a security guard his family had been killed. The guard drove the teenager home and notified police upon seeing the crime scene. 

Investigators trying to piece together what led to the violence late Saturday night found several guns, including an AR-15 assault rifle and a .22 caliber pistol, Bernalillo County Sheriff Dan Houston said Sunday. The owner of the weapons has not been determined.  

Griego was arrested following the shootings at the residence in a rural area southwest of downtown Albuquerque, the sheriff's department said. He was charged with two counts of murder and three counts of child abuse resulting in death. 

Authorities identified the victims as Greg Griego, 51, his wife Sara Griego, 40, and three of their children: a 9-year-old boy, Zephania Griego, and daughters Jael Griego, 5, and Angelina Griego, 2. 

Nehemiah Griego had never been in trouble with the law, according to state officials. The state's child welfare agency has no record of any contacts with the 15-year-old or his family, spokesman Bob Tafoya said Monday. 

A records check by the Department of Children, Youth and Families also indicated the youth "had no involvement with the juvenile justice system whatsoever," Tafoya said.

Luckily, that friend convinced him to instead go to a local church, where the teen eventually surrendered.

Where did the boy get his AR-15 assault rifle?  Did the family purchase it at the Walmart?  Walmart sells five different types of assault rifles.

Why did the boy want to target Walmart, of all places?  Hmmm.....

Could he have been inspired by this previous plot to shoot up a Walmart?

(related: there had been a gang-related shooting at an Albuquerque Walmart last February).

Walmart.  Save money.  Die faster.

UPDATE (1/23/13):  According to a follow-up article, the boy got the gun by raiding his parents' closet, where the guns and ammo were not apparently locked up, while his mother slept.  He killed her first, then killed his three younger siblings because they were upset, then ambushed his father when he got home from an overnight shift at a mission.  The article confirms his intent to shoot up random people at a Walmart, and to die at the hands of police, but instead he went to a church to meet his younger girlfriend.  He may have been interested in killing her parents, too.  When interviewed by the police, it became apparent to them that the boy was very wrapped up in his love of extremely violent video games.

Threats of gun violence cause evacuation of Kansas City Walmarts

One of the Walmarts threatened in Kansas City, Missouri

Occurred December 19, 2012.

Three times during one night, calls were made to three different Kansas City, Missouri, area Walmarts, forcing police response and evacuation of stores.  Luckily, the threatened violence didn't happen.

The caller was tracked down and arrested.

From an article:

Three area Walmart stores, located in the Northland and Independence, were evacuated after the man made the threats of violence sometime after midnight Wednesday. 

According to police, the man would call to make a threat, and once police arrived and found nothing suspicious, he would call and make a threat at another location. 

The third call, that concerned an Independence Walmart located on East 39th Street South and South Bolger Road, just west of Highway 291, happened shortly after 2:45 a.m. Nothing was found. 

Police were able to find the man by tracing a TracFone cell phone he had in his possession. He was arrested shortly after 5 a.m.

Walmart.  Save money.  Die faster.

Man arrested for plotting mass shooting with assault rifles at Missouri Walmart

Occurred November 16, 2012.

(UPDATED -- See below)

A man from Bolivar, Missouri, Blaec James Lammers, 20, was caught planning a mass shooting at the local Walmart store, using two assault rifles and ammunition acquired, in part, from within the store.

He had purchased his weapons and ammo from Walmart.

Luckily, Lammers' mother became suspicious and tipped off the police.

Lammers was able to purchase two assault weapons and 400 rounds of ammo legally, despite the fact that he had a prior incident of making threats, had been involuntarily committed due to his mental health back in 2009, and was currently supposed to be taking medication for a serious mental illness.

From an article:

According to a probable cause statement by Det. Dusty Ross of the Bolivar Police Department, Blaec James Lammers, 20, initially planned on attending a showing of the "Twilight" movie at B&B Theatre in Bolivar and shooting people at it.

He had planned on doing it at a showing tonight (Friday, Nov. 16), Ross said in a phone interview.

"Blaec Lammers stated that he had purchased tickets to go see the 'Twilight' movie ... and he was going to shoot people at the movie theatre on that night," the statement said.

"He then got to thinking about it and realized that he might run out of ammunition, so he decided that he would go and shoot people at Walmart in Bolivar. ... He would walk into the store and just start shooting people at random and if he ran out of ammunition (he said he purchased 400 rounds), he would just break the glass where the ammunition is being stored and get some more and keep on shooting until the police arrived," the statement said.
....
"He got the idea, he purchased the guns, purchased the ammo, went out and practiced using the gun, got his venue, got tickets to the venue, then thought 'Well, maybe if I run out of ammo, I need to pick a different venue.'
....
Lammers allegedly planned something similar in 2009.

"Lammers had previously stated that he wanted to stab a Walmart employee to death and went to Walmart and followed an employee around the store before he was contacted by officers," the statement said.

In an interview with Ross, Lammers allegedly said he had a lot in common with individuals involved in recent shootings in the news.

"Lammers stated that he was quiet, kind of a loner, had recently purchased firearms and didn't tell anybody about it and had homicidal thoughts," the statement said.

The suspect was familiar with several high profile shootings, Ross said, discussing shootings at Virginia Tech, Arizona, Columbine, Colo., and Aurora.

Lammers acquired one assault-type gun on Monday, Nov. 12, and another on Tuesday, Nov. 13. Ross said he purchased both guns, a .223 and .22 similar in appearance to the AR-15s used in the Aurora shooting, from Walmart. He is held in the Polk County Jail on a $500,000 bond.

(information on the suspect's Facebook page)

UPDATE (11/21/12):  New details about Lammers' 2009 mental health involuntary commitment.  Lammers, then age 17, had almost carried out another murder at a Walmart using a knife and rubber mask.  According to an article:

Blaec Lammers told investigators in Oct. 2009, he went to the Walmart in Bolivar, Mo., looking for an "easy victim" after watching the horror film "Halloween," saying that watching the main character killing people "got him to thinking," the arrest report said.

Lammers, then 17, told authorities he watched the clerk for more than two hours. He said he was planning to follow the clerk into a storage room and kill him. Lammers' plan fell apart when his mother located a suicide note and noticed a kitchen knife was missing. She called the authorities, who located Lammers' car in the Walmart parking lot.

No charges were filed in that case. Instead, Lammers was committed for 96 hours for a mental health examination, Polk County prosecutor Ken Ashlock said Tuesday.

Walmart.  Save money.  Die faster.


UPDATE (12/27/12):  According to another article, the parents of Blaec Lammers, say they've tried, and failed, to get their son appropriate mental health treatment in the past:

The couple has tried repeatedly to get help for their son, who has been diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome and an anti-social personality disorder. They recalled waiting for hours as hospital staffers called institutions around the state, trying to find one that had an open bed for their son. 

They’ve spent as much as $30,000 on repeated hospitalizations and medications. There is still a balance of about $9,300 from their son’s last stay at Lakeland Behavioral Health System, a psychiatric hospital for children in Springfield. 

They said the mental health system had failed them and their son.

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/12/25/3981618/theres-no-place-to-turn-to.html#storylink=cpy

UPDATE (4/6/13):  A judge ruled that Lammers' plan constituted a threat.  From an article:

Despite objections the state did not prove the defendant communicated a threat, Associate Circuit Judge John C. Porter found probable cause that Blaec James Lammers, 20, of Bolivar committed a felony in his alleged plans to open fire at Bolivar Walmart in November. ...

The next day, Wednesday, Nov. 14, she picked up Lammers’ clothes to do his laundry — he lived with her at her residence on East 473rd Road — and she found a Walmart receipt dated Nov. 13 for a gun in the pocket of his pants, P. Lammers said. She could not recall what she read on the receipt to make her believe it was for a gun, but the purchase was for $865 and had been paid in cash. 

“I briefly spoke with him that Wednesday afternoon,” P. Lammers said. “He said ‘Yes, I bought them [the guns] several weeks ago.’ ... That was not true. 

“I have learned to walk on eggshells, sometimes, around my son. I didn’t want him to get angry with me. I was concerned for my safety as well as my son’s,” P. Lammers said. “I was afraid my son could come back and hurt me or I was afraid he could hurt himself, take his life. I had no idea what my son might do.” ... 

Jeff Murray, a Walmart employee, testified that he sold Lammers a Windham Weaponry AR-15 and some ammunition on Nov. 13. The rifle is semi-automatic, Murray said, and is commonly called an “assault weapon.” Lammers completed the background paperwork in his presence and Murray said he submitted it to the FBI. 

UPDATE (6/6/13):  Read more about how Lammers was able to be armed despite years of going in and out of mental facilities and concern from his parents, HERE.

UPDATE (3/24/14):  Lammers has been sentenced to 15 years in prison.
.