Walmart was locked down by Medicine Hat Police Service for more than an hour on Family Day, Feb. 15, after a threatening phone call to the store. Police have since been able to identify the caller and take action.--NEWS FILE PHOTO
The person responsible for a threatening phone call to Walmart that resulted in an hour-long lockdown on Family Day has been identified.
“We identified the caller, a youth, and we used some alternative forms of the criminal justice system,” said Insp. Brent Secondiak, Medicine Hat Police Services.
On Feb. 15 at about 9:15 p.m. police responded to Walmart after being notified of a disconcerting phone call during which and unidentified caller threatened to bring a firearm to the store.
Once on scene MHPS did not allow anyone in or out of the store for more than an hour while they looked for anything suspicious.
An official MHPS press release at the time stated that the call was “directed at a specific employee working in the store. The caller made comments about attending the store to confront the employee.”
When MHPS considered it safe to do so everyone within the store was escorted off the premises that night.
The file was forwarded to the Major Crimes section at MHPS to help determine who made the call.
Secondiak says it was actually a tip from the public that enabled them to identify the caller.
“We want to thank the public for that. Normally we have to go through a long process of getting search warrants and do agreements,” said Secondiak.
A decision was made not to charge the youth (the caller) criminally and rather use alternative forms of discipline.
Secondiak says the offender showed remorse for his actions and did not appear to understand the repercussions.
“We’re working with a few agencies to ensure it doesn’t happen again,” said Secondiak, noting that sometimes actions like this call can be a cry for help.
Calls such as the one made to Walmart are not completely unusual in the community. An officer at MHPS said there have been prank calls to the hospital in the past and to other institutions. They are all thoroughly investigated.
