West Las Vegas Walmart closed over reports of man with a knife

A Walmart in west Las Vegas was closed early Monday after a man stole a knife at the store, then threatened people with it, police said.

Las Vegas police officer Larry Hadfield said that at 8:07 a.m. police were called to the Walmart at 5200 South Fort Apache Road for a report “that a male had stabbed someone.” It turned out that no one had been stabbed, but police evacuated the store and began searching for a suspect with a knife.

“The information from the scene indicates a possible homeless man entered the store and broke a glass case where knives were displayed,” Hadfield said. “He grabbed a knife and was in the business threatening customers. However, he did not injure anyone.”

The store was evacuated and closed, causing some scary moments for customers.

“I was by the freezer and I hear people yelling ‘We need to get out,’ ” customer Emma Calderon said.

Calderon said she was told there was a report of a man with a weapon in the store and that he had fled.

Andrew Williams was at the store making a mail delivery shortly after 8 a.m.

“I saw everyone just running out of the store,” Williams said. “When they came out they said it was someone in there by the gun case, whatever, and they made everyone evacuate the store.”

Dozens of Walmart employees were observed in the parking lot waiting for the store to reopen. Hadfield said the suspect in the case was not located. The store is expected to reopen by noon.

Contact Glenn Puit at gpuit@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0390. Follow @GlennatRJ on Twitter.