A terrifying situation came to a peaceful and quick resolution Monday night when a woman entered Walmart with a loaded handgun — and had a brief standoff with police.
Foster Township Police Chief Tom Munn said the 57-year-old woman from the Bradford area — whose name he declined to release at this point — entered the store at 7:42 p.m. carrying a 9 mm handgun. She approached a female employee and asked for help. The employee was able to get away from her and immediately reported the incident to management, which contacted McKean County 911.
“We were dispatched at 7:48 p.m.,” Munn said. “Two of our officers responded and immediately reviewed the security tapes.”
When the officers confirmed the woman was in fact carrying a gun, they ordered the store evacuated.
The woman, who was wearing a long jacket, proceeded to the back of the store, dropping things as she went. Munn declined to say what she was dropping along the way. She went to the employees-only stockroom at the back of the store, carrying the gun which was pointed down at the floor, the chief explained.
She proceeded through the north side of the store — the grocery side — in the employees-only section. Near the dairy section, she apparently left the store and went into an external fenced-in area which houses condensers for the refrigeration. “There is 10-foot tall fencing around that area,” Munn said.
“She wedged herself into the piping there,” he said. She was still holding the 9 mm pistol, fully loaded with a round in the chamber.
Munn said police were able to ascertain where she was in the store by viewing the security monitors, and were searching the area when they located a door that shouldn’t have been open.
Within minutes, police were able to talk her out of the gun, and she surrendered peacefully.
Munn said the woman suffered a minor cut to her hand, possibly while climbing through the refrigeration area. No one else was injured in the incident — which lasted about 15 to 20 minutes.
“We were with her, and she was in custody for quite some time,” the chief said. She was in a standoff with police for about 10 minutes until she gave up the weapon and surrendered.
“She was contained quickly, and we kept the public safe,” Munn said.
He lauded the rapid response from other area police departments as well, as Bradford City, Bradford Township, University of Pittsburgh Campus and Kane-based state police were on the scene within minutes of the initial call.
Munn said the woman was transported from the scene to Bradford Regional Medical Center, where she is receiving treatment for mental health issues.
Charges are pending, he added.
“We don’t believe she went in the store to target a specific person,” Munn said.
He said police searched the entire building after she was in custody. “We weren’t looking for a second assailant. I wanted to feel confident before we released that building back that it was safe.”
Police were also searching along the route the woman took through the store to collect evidence, Munn added.
Overall, he said, the frightening and intense situation went about as well as it could have. Area police and Walmart officials worked very well together.
“We try to prepare for these kinds of things,” he said. And this incident will be reviewed to see what went right, and what could have gone better.
Some family members of the woman were present at the scene after she was in custody, and while at least one was visibly upset, there were no incidents, Munn said.
“We’re lucky that no one was injured,” the chief said, including the woman and the police.
“It may sound like a cliche, but when people are running away, police and emergency responders are running toward,” he said.
At 9:45 p.m., Foster Brook Boulevard was still blocked with Foster Township and University of Pittsburgh at Bradford Campus Police still on scene. The road was reopened at 10:50 p.m.
At 11:05 p.m., Foster Township Police left BRMC.
Walmart reopened about the same time.
