Wal-Mart says holiday crowds, not threats, reason for police

BY KATE WARD Northwest Arkansas Times

Posted on Friday, December 14, 2007

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Local shoppers may notice an increased police presence at the Wal-Mart Supercenter in north Fayetteville.

Fayetteville police Sgt. Shannon Gabbard said the business, at 3919 N. Mall Ave., requested additional patrol during the holiday season as a safety measure.

Rumors that convicted Jonesboro school shooter Mitchell Johnson was the cause for the extra patrol are false, Gabbard said.

“ They requested extra patrol from off-duty officers for a security assignment during the holidays at Wal-Mart North, ” he said.

Johnson, 23, was convicted in the 1998 attack at Westside Middle School in Jonesboro that left four students and one teacher dead.

E-mails currently being circulated among Fayetteville residents allege that Johnson and his girlfriend recently broke up and that he has been seen standing around the store for hours at a time. The e-mail further alleges that Johnson has been “ making a plan” for the store.

“ I don’t know where this e-mail came from, but we’re getting hammered with it pretty hard, ” police Sgt. Matt Partain said. “ We’ve been out there for two weeks providing extra patrol. It’s something that the business has started doing during the holiday season. ”

He said addition law enforcement has also been requested at Wal-Mart stores in Springdale and Rogers.

“ We’ll have more out there this weekend to work traffic, ” he said. “ Since we’ve been providing the extra security, we’ve caught a couple forgery suspects, a few shoplifters and some other people. ”

Partain confirmed that Johnson was formerly employed by the store but was ter minated months ago. He further confirmed that Johnson’s girlfriend is a current Wal-Mart employee.

“ Yes his girlfriend works there, but we haven’t even seen him there since we’ve been there, ” he said.

Partain said Johnson is not believed to have had any involvement in a recent bomb threat at the Wal-Mart in north Fayetteville.

The store was evacuated Monday afternoon when employees found a note in the bathroom claiming there was bomb that would go off at 4 p. m. The store reopened after no bomb was found.

“ The extra patrol has nothing to do with the bomb threat or the e-mails, ” Partain said.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. spokesman Dan Fogleman said the extra patrol was requested to keep shoppers safe during the holidays.

“ This being the holiday season, it is not uncommon for us to have police officers in our stores, ” he said. “ We want to make sure the environment is safe and secure for shoppers. ”

Fogleman said the Wal-Mart in north Fayetteville is the only store with extra patrol.

“ Each store has individual circumstances, ” he said. “ We make decisions on what level of police presence we’ll have on a store-by-store basis. ”

Johnson’s last run-in with local law enforcement was in January. He, along with 23-year-old Justin Trammell —who was previously convicted of murder in Benton County for shooting and killing his father with a crossbow — were pulled over by Washington County sheriff’s deputies for allegedly driving erratically on Gregg Avenue.

Trammell received a traffic citation for reckless driving. Johnson was arrested on two misdemeanor charges of possession of marijuana and carrying a weapon. Deputies reported finding in the van 20 grams of marijuana and a loaded 9 mm semi-automatic pistol, which Johnson said belonged to him.

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