Mass killing in southwest Missouri averted, police say
Southwest Missouri police foiled a potential mass shooting at a movie theater or retail store with the arrest of a 20-year-old Bolivar man, according to court records released Friday.
Blaec Lammers told police there that he first had planned to kill movie patrons at a Sunday showing of the new Twilight feature, but later decided to kill customers at the local Walmart.
Lammers, who said he already had purchased 400 rounds of ammunition, spelled out the reason for his change of heart in a chilling statement to police.
‘Lammers stated that he would walk into the store and just start shooting people at random,’ a police affidavit alleged. ‘(A)nd if he ran out of ammunition … he would just break the glass where the ammunition is being stored and get some more and keep on shooting until the police arrived.’
He told Officer Dustin Ross that he planned to surrender to officers when they arrived, according to the affidavit.
Lammers is being held in lieu of a $500,000 bond, according to court records. He faces charges of first-degree assault, making a terrorist threat and armed criminal action.
With a population of about 10,300, Bolivar lies just north of Springfield, about 140 miles southeast of Kansas City.
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