Gunman at Walmart may have been shot to death by authorities while carrying a fake gun. The family of John Crawford, the 22-year-old gunman who was shot several times by Ohio police at a Walmart store, believes he was walking around the store with a toy gun he picked up in the toy department as he was shopping with his mistress. Beavercreek Police Department has refused to reveal the type of weapon Crawford was carrying. The shooting of the gunman traumatized a Walmart shopper who collapsed and died on the scene.
The story of the Walmart gunman who was killed by Ohio police officers this week has two sides.
On Tuesday night at around 8 PM, numerous people shopping at a Walmart located in Dayton, Beavercreek in Ohio called the police after spotting a young African American man cruising down the toy and pet aisles with a gun.
The gunman was 22-year-old John Crawford from Fairfield, a father of two, with a baby on the way who was scheduled to get married to LeeCee Johnson this weekend.
According to several witnesses, the man was talking on his cell phone, while holding the riffle and playing with it.
One of the shoppers who called 911 stated that the man never pointed the gun at anyone, but he did look serious and did not appreciate when people made eye contact with him, which lead her to believe that he had plans to rob the store or kill someone.
That same person explained that she nor her son could not tell if the gun was real or fake, but it was scary enough to call the cops.
According to Beavercreek Police Department, five officers were dispatched to the store and when they found Crawford in the pet section, he was asked to put down the rifle and get on the floor.
When he failed to comply, they shot him several times, tackled, handcuffed him and took him to a nearby hospital where he later died.
Angela Williams, 37, who suffered from an unknown illness witnessed the disturbing scene, collapsed and died as she was running out of the store.
Crawford’s girlfriend Johnson said she was on the phone with him during the shooting. Johnson said that her partner who loved to “play around” did not own a weapon.
And she is more than certain that the father of her kids was just “messing around” with a gun he found in the toy aisle.
She went on to add that she could hear him screaming and crying as they shot at him.
The couple has two boys, a one-year-old and a four-month-old.
The woman who is heartbroken said that she just found out that she is pregnant and did not get the chance to tell him about it.
She also stated that the man had many wonderful things to live for like their wedding, which was set to take place this weekend.
Another woman named Tasha Thomas, has come forward saying that she had been having an affair with Crawford for the past four months and she was at the store with him the night he was killed.
Thomas told police that her lover did not enter the store with a weapon.
The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, which has refused to say if the gun was real or not, has asked an independent agency to investigate the shooting.
The family of the gunman has contacted the NAACP.
Crawford’s cousin said this is another example of police brutality against minorities, where they shoot and kill, and ask questions later.
