THOMASTON — A Walmart store just off Route 1 in Thomaston closed a few hours early Wednesday after police received a warning that a man had posted a video online saying he was going to the store with a gun.
Thomaston Police Chief Tim Hoppe said local police received information from New York State Police that the man, who is not being identified, posted the video on Facebook Messenger showing him with a gun. The man said he was going to the local Walmart.
The New York police had reported that the man had told relatives he was planning on coming to the Midcoast of Maine.
Hoppe said since Thomaston is the closest Walmart to where the man was believed to be in the Midcoast, a decision was made to notify the store, which agreed to close at 9 p.m. Wednesday. The store normally stays open until midnight.
The store reopened on Thursday.
Hoppe said Rockland police and the FBI are assisting in the investigation.
He said more information will be released once the suspect is apprehended.
The threat comes less than three weeks after a man killed 22 people and wounded 27 at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas. And a few days later, a man in Florida was arrested for threatening to commit a mass shooting at a Walmart in that state.
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