KANSAS CITY, Mo. - A man believed to be distraught over a terminal illness threatened to kill people at a Northland Wal-Mart.
It happened Monday morning at the store on 152 Highway, just east of Interstate 35.
The scare caused the store to be locked down until the suspect was found at his home.
Neighbors say the suspect has been told he has only two months to live.
Kyle Barousse is a friend and neighbor who said the suspect wouldn't actually hurt anyone.
"He’s not a threat to anybody. He has no weapons. I've never seen him with a weapon, ever. And I’ve never seen him act violent towards anybody," Barousse said.
Officers said the 35-year-old man called the Wal-Mart twice, threatening to shoot and kill people.
According to police, the man had tried to cash a check there on Sunday, but was refused. He got belligerent and was kicked out of the store.
On Monday, the store was locked down as police searched the store and parking lot.
"We wanted everyone in the store. We did not know where he was at the time. If he was in the parking lot or he was going to drive by. So to make it safe, we got everyone in the store and locked it down," KCMO police spokesman Darin Snapp said.
Snapp also said the man told police "…that he has terminal cancer and has nothing to lose."
His neighbor said the man just got out of the hospital after weeks of treatment.
"I've been up there to see him, he's pretty sure that he's dying. And he's really depressed about the whole dying thing,” Barousse said.
Another neighbor said the man had been sitting on the front porch swing, having a few drinks, when police arrived.
She said the suspect kept asking, "What did I do?" as he was taken into custody.
The man also had claimed to be a former law enforcement officer, but officers said they can find no record of him having served in that capacity.
