WILKESBORO, NC. (THECOUNT) — Jimmy Minton Jr, of Wilkesboro, NC, has been identified as the suspect arrested over bringing a gun into the Wilkesboro Walmart on Saturday and threatening to “kill a bunch of people,” reports say Tuesday.
Minton, 28, was taken into custody and held under a $1,000,000 bond after being charged with six counts of simple assault, misdemeanor larceny, possession of stolen goods, resisting a public officer and assault on a government official.
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Minton would later reveal he was planning a mass shooting after being “inspired’ by the recent mass shooting in El Paso and Dayton.
WXII12 explained the chain of events leading up to the incident this way:
Officer C.G. Colbert wrote the report. Colbert says he was dispatched to Walmart to speak with Martha Minton, who was standing beside of car. Martha said she gave her son Jimmy $50 to buy a pair of shorts. Martha said Jimmy came out of the store asking for more money and he didn’t appear to have any merchandise with him, the report says.
Martha informed the officer that Jimmy went into nearby Dunham’s Sporting Goods. Colbert says Martha reported a history of violence Jimmy has had toward her and was worried he may have bought or even stolen a pocket knife from Walmart.
Officer McHargue arrived to assist Colbert with the scene. After the briefing, McHargue went to Dunham’s to try to locate Jimmy. According to the report, while speaking with Martha, McHargue advised personnel via radio that she located Jimmy in Dunham’s and he was in possession of what appeared to be a gun.
Sergeant Price, Officer C. Shumate, and Colbert then moved to assist McHargue at Dunham’s.
“I could hear Officer McHargue yelling for help inside the store stating she had located him. (Jimmy) had made his way through the store to the back storage room. I went back to the right side of the store to try and cut him off when I made contact with him near the restrooms at the rear of the store. (Jimmy) was wearing a gray shirt with blue jeans and I observed what appeared to be a black gun that looked like a short automatic rifle in his hands,” Colbert writes in the report.
Colbert says he then ordered Jimmy to drop the weapon as Jimmy continued around the corner into a storage room.
At some point, police say Jimmy pointed a gun at the officer and the officer took cover.
A store employee advised officers that the storage room had an exit door at the rear of the building, but it was locked.
Price, Colbert, and Deputy Frausto with the Wilkes County Sheriff’s Office made entry and cleared the storage room.
“We found the storage room door to be an emergency exit door and when the bar was pushed it opened to the rear of the building. Just after clearing the room, (we were advised that) someone had called about a white male wearing a gray shirt and blue jeans carrying a gun in Walmart. We responded to Walmart and Sgt. Price and I made entry through the grocery entrance,” wrote Colbert.
Colbert says they observed multiple people running out of Walmart in a panic. The officers and deputies started clearing the building, looking for Jimmy, while also speaking with people who were leaving to try to ascertain his last-known location.
“At one point we passed a Walmart employee running towards us that said the suspect was near the automotive section. Sgt. McManus had come in through another entrance and cleared the left side of the building when we met him in the electronics section of the store. We had cornered (Jimmy) at the rear of the store in the layaway department and Sgt. McManus made entry into a bathroom locating Jimmy,” Colbert writes in the report.
Jimmy was located and arrested.
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Geo quick facts: Wilkesboro is a town in and the county seat of Wilkes County, North Carolina. The population was 3,413 at the 2010 census. The town is located along the south bank of the Yadkin River, directly opposite the town of North Wilkesboro – Wikipedia.