Man arrested after threatening massacre at Florida Walmart
VALRICO, Fla. — A Florida man is charged with threatening to open fire inside a Walmart, one day after a gunman killed 20 inside a Texas store.
The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office arrested 31-year-old Wayne Lee Padgett of Valrico late Sunday. He is charged with calling the Walmart Supercenter in Gibsonton, Florida, on Sunday afternoon and telling managers he planned to shoot up the store. About 1,000 people inside were evacuated.
Investigators said they traced the call to Padgett. No gun was found at his house near Tampa.
Padgett is charged with filing a false report of using a firearm in a threatening manner. He was being held Monday at the Hillsborough County jail on $7,500 bond. No attorney was listed.
A gunman killed 20 at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, on Saturday.