Gunman Wal-Mart: 22-Year-Old Suspect Shot In Wal-Mart Had Toy Gun

A suspected gunman at a Wal-Mart in Ohio was shot several times by police.

According to The SpreadIt, this all happened around 8 p.m. on Tuesday. John Crawford, 22, was at the Walmart story in Dayton when he allegedly grabbed a toy gun from the toy aisle. As he walked around the story — reportedly with his mistress — he carried the toy with him. Witnesses became nervous, many calling police. Authorities were told that there was an African American male talking on a cell phone, carrying a gun through the aisles of the store.

“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.”

Turns out, the gunman in Wal-Mart actually wasn’t a gunman at all. However, police arrived at the store and approached Crawford, telling him to put the gun down and get down on the floor. When Crawford didn’t comply, he was shot… and killed. Crawford was said to be on the phone with his girlfriend, LeeCee Johnson, whom he was supposed to be marrying this weekend. She told police that her boyfriend liked to “play around” and she didn’t think it was surprising that he was carrying a toy (albeit a gun) around the store with him. She also said that she could hear Crawford getting shot and screaming in pain.

Crawford had a 1-year-old and a 4-month-old son with Johnson, and she recently found out that she was pregnant again. Crawford didn’t yet know the news.

The other part to this story is Crawford’s mistress, who was in Walmart with him. Tasha Thomas said that she had been having an affair with Crawford over the past four months.

The gunman in Wal-Mart — who wasn’t really a gunman at all — was said to be the only black person in the store at the time of the shooting, according to WDTN. For this reason, his family believes that he was shot because of the color of his skin. Crawford’s fiancee spoke out about it.

“When his mom and dad went out there to see him in the hospital and they was around the areas at Walmart it wasn’t not one black person there just him and so we feel like this thing was racism.”

Racist shootings are alleged all the time. Of course no one will forget the Trayvon Martin shooting. As previously reported by The Inquisitr, there is an appeal in a lawsuit filed by shooter, George Zimmerman, who claims that NBC made him sound racist. You can read all about that story here.

[Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons]