Left inset: Armani Waite (Darby Township Police Department). Right inset: Armani Waite was allegedly caught on camera opening fire inside a Pennsylvania Walmart (Delaware County District Attorney's Office). Background: The Walmart in Glenolden, Pa., where cops say Armani Waite got into a fight with a fellow shopper that led to a worker being shot (WCAU/YouTube).
A Pennsylvania man has been arrested and charged with attempted murder after he allegedly pulled out a gun in a Walmart self-checkout area and tried to shoot another customer he was arguing with. The man had 30 people around him at the time and ended up shooting an uninvolved worker, according to local officials.
"This could have been an absolute calamity, and the truth of the matter is, it is his own ineptitude that kept this from being a whole lot worse," said Delaware County District Attorney Tanner Rouse during a press conference on Monday after Armani Waite, 21, turned himself in to police.
"This is just about the busiest place in the entire Walmart," Rouse told reporters. "There are no less than 30 people around Mr. Waite when, as a result of this argument, he pulls out a gun and fires."
The chaos unfolded at a Walmart in Glenolden, which is about 18 miles south of Philadelphia, last Friday night around 7:30 p.m., according to the Darby Township Police Department.
"They rushed everybody to the back of the store," a customer told local NBC affiliate WCAU after the shooting. Another shopper said she heard "children screaming" and saw another person hyperventilating as everything was happening.
"She was panicking," the shopper recounted to WCAU. "I went to her side. I was telling her to breathe. Take deep breaths so she could be able to think and concentrate."
DA Rouse recounted how Waite was arguing with another man in the self-checkout area when he pulled out a pistol and fired at least three rounds at the other shopper after they allegedly flashed a handgun in their waistband. Rouse said the other shopper is a legal gun owner who has a permit to carry, and he did not make any threats toward Waite.
A female employee who was not part of the altercation was shot in the calf and taken to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
"There is nothing about this interaction that seemed as though the defendant, Mr. Waite, was going to be shot," Rouse explained.
"It was not threatening," he said. "Maybe the words spoken back and forth were unpleasant. Maybe they were rude. Obviously, I don't know. I wasn't there. But I will tell you there is no basis for him to say I was in fear for my life. He is the aggressor here. Plain and simple."
Cops said they were reviewing surveillance video inside and outside the Walmart, as well as Waite's purchase history, to try to piece together what happened and identify him. The Darby Township Police Department wrote on Facebook Monday that Waite "surrendered himself without incident."
According to Rouse, the shopper Waite was targeting in the self-checkout area was "buying stuff" that night when the shooting happened.
"He's walking away," Rouse said. "He's checking stuff out with his buddy. It is not a physical encounter. … There is simply no reason for this to have occurred. There is no basis for him to say I was in any sort of danger or threat."
Waite's charges include attempted murder, aggravated assault — attempts to cause substantial bodily injury or causes injury with extreme indifference, aggravated assault — attempts to cause or causes bodily injury with deadly weapon, reckless endangering another person, firearms not to be carried without license, and possession of an instrument of crime with intent to cause harm.
Waite's bail has been set at $1 million.
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