Dmitriy Andreychenko charged with terroristic threats after armed altercation at Springfield Walmart

The Greene County Prosecutor's office has filed charges against Dmitriy N. Andreychenko, 20, for making a terrorist threat in the second degree. The charges come after police say Andreychenko arrived at a Walmart: Neighborhood Market armed with tactical weapons and more than one hundred rounds of ammunition.

Greene County prosecutor Dan Patterson released a statement saying in part, "Missouri protects the right of people to open carry a firearm, but that right does not allow an individual to act in a reckless and criminal manner endangering other citizens."

The statement goes on to say, "As Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes famously explained, ‘the most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man in falsely shouting fire in a theater causing a panic.’” Mr. Patterson also recommended everyone who exercises their right to carry a weapon to do so in a responsible manner.

Patterson also offered thoughts and prayers to the Battlefield Police Officer and a citizen who were injured in a car crash while the officer was responding to the Walmart: Neighborhood Market.

Making a terrorist threat in the second degree is a class E felony and is punishable by up to four years in prison, and a fine of up to $10,000.

The incident happened around 4 p.m. at the Neighborhood Market at Scenic and Republic Road. Police say the man walked into the store with tactical weapons, wearing body armor. Witnesses say he grabbed a cart and began pushing it around the store. Police say the man was recording himself walking through the store via a cell phone.

The store manager pulled a fire alarm, urging people to escape the store.

Police say the man then made his way out an emergency exit where an armed citizen held the man at gunpoint. Police arrived on scene and arrested the man.