ST. LOUIS, Mo. (KMOV) – Ferguson police are now investigating an altercation that broke out inside a Walmart store, which has since gone viral through videos all over social media.
“I have seen some videos on social media and it is embarrassing. I’ll call it what it is,” Ferguson Police Chief Frank McCall said.
The video shows chaos at the Walmart self-checkout area on West Florissant Avenue. Several people get into a fight as some people throw objects and set off fire extinguishers.
“You’re looking at probably 10 to maybe 25 people [involved]McCall said.
McCall says what they know so far is that this altercation took place on Tuesday night, following a minor incident that night that was handled internally and without calling the police.
“Apparently, he recovered shortly after,” he said.
Police arrived at 9 pm for the second incident, but he was already calming down by the time they arrived at the store. McCall said the department is working with Walmart corporate to obtain surveillance video from inside the store.
Walmart declined to provide comment on the incident and referred all questions to police.
“We have been able to identify some people who were involved. The fact that there are people who might have assaulted each other or been assaulted, we have to make sure that they are prepared and willing to prosecute,” McCall said. “But the other thing is that we also have Walmart as a victim, and I’m sure they will prosecute because they have some property damage as well.”
Shoppers and residents who were at Walmart Tuesday night, or who frequented the store, are now calling for the store to close after similar events have occurred at this location before.
Based on this, News 4 asked Chief McCall if he considers this place to be a public nuisance to the surrounding community.
“No, I don’t consider him a public nuisance. I think the issue is this, is that [this] Walmart could have been anywhere within this region,” he said. “It all depends on the parties involved.”
McCall says that Walmart has gone out of its way to hire its own security for this location. News 4 saw a number of security vehicles on the scene at Walmart on Wednesday, but it’s unclear from eyewitness videos of the incident if security was present at the time the altercation broke out.
“I will say that it is not isolated from just this location, and not just this business. We have many different incidents that occur not only within business establishments but even on public streets,” McCall said. “And it’s not the point of trying to move it. You want to stop it.
He says that preventing incidents like this at Walmart or anywhere requires accountability and visibility.
“One thing is that you have to be prepared to prosecute; that’s number one. But more importantly, where the best deterrent in the world is visibility. So, it’s the point of being visible and being there, and then… let’s say you’re security, that you’re okay and ready to contact the police if there’s a problem.”
So far, no arrests have been made and no injuries have been reported to police.
“I think what we want to do is have the opportunity to speak with the victims in question to confirm the identification of the individuals that we believe we have identified, and then we will take appropriate action at that time.”
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