A veteran faced down a man armed with an AK-47 on Monday when the suspect appeared at a Texas Walmart in the border city of Weslaco, about four hours from San Antonio.
John Allen, the veteran visiting Walmart on Monday afternoon around 3:30pm, said he was taken by surprise when he witnessed a fellow shopper carrying the large firearm into the popular retailer, reports The Blaze.
The suspect was later identified by authorities as a 27-year-old Latino man named Marco Antonio Sigala. He was dressed completely in black on the warm Texas day, and Allen says he became suspicious.
“I was pulling up and I seen a gentleman, young man approximately 25, mid to late 20s, carrying an AK-47 into the store,” Allen told KVEO-TV.
Allen immediately confronted Sigala, and instructed him to rethink whatever his intentions may be for that afternoon.
“[Sigala] was very upset that I stopped him, and he was wanting to know who I was, those kinds of things,” Allen said. “I said I was just a soldier, and I’m a concerned citizen, and you’re not shooting anybody in this store today.”
Another shopper noticed the standoff and took advantage of the diversion to call 911 and report the gunman.
Welasco Police Chief Joel Rivera said as many as 17 Welasco officers and four Hidalgo County deputy constables quickly rushed to the scene.
Police posted a warning to the public on Twitter saying “Avoid Walmart on N Texas at this time. We will provide an update shortly.”
Rivera stated in a press conference, “The suspect entered Walmart though the north side entrance, [and] had a confrontation with a customer. Ended up pointing a gun at the customer. That’s still being corroborated through video and eyewitnesses. He made his way straight east to the back of the store.”
KEVO-TV reported that multiple weapons were found on the heavily armed suspect and police were very concerned about his possible motives.
Finding the man standing with his weapon by the grocery section, police say they ordered Sigala to drop his AK-47.
“They gave him orders to throw the gun. He threw the gun on the ground,” Rivera recalls to reporters. “He refused to show his hands. At some point he produced a handgun.”
At that point, Sigala allegedly started firing at the responding officers, and the police returned fire.
Sigala was shot several times by the officers and died at the scene. At the time of the press conference, police spokesmen would not publicly identify the man until his next of kin was notified.
“Officers attempted to resolve the situation with less than lethal force. The suspect fired at officers and the officers returned fire,” Rivera told reporters.
Similar to the George Floyd case, police say the suspect began pleading with the approaching officers about a supposed medical condition. Officers say he was “very distraught, very irate concerning a medical issue,” but they were unable to obtain further details about the issue before the situation turned violent.
No officers, shoppers, or employees were injured during the incident.
Weslaco Police Department has now handed off the investigation to the Texas Rangers, who often functions as a neutral third party to investigate officer-involved shootings as an investigatory arm of the Texas Department of Public Safety.