Thornton Walmart Shooting: Armed Shoppers Slowed Probe, Cops Say

THORNTON, CO -- When the shots started ringing out in Thornton's Walmart Wednesday night, crowds of shoppers rushed for the exits. But some of those Walmart patrons drew handguns themselves, police said. Investigators Thursday blamed a five-hour delay in naming the suspect partly on the time it took to figure out whether gun-toting shoppers were part of the incident that killed three people.

“Once the building was safe enough to get into it, we started reviewing [video] as quickly as we could,” said Thornton Police Public Information Officer Victor Avila Thursday morning. “That’s when we started noticing [shoppers with handguns drawn]. At that point, as soon as you see that, that’s the one you try to trace through the store, only to maybe find out that’s not him, and we’re back to ground zero again, starting to look again. That’s what led to the extended time.”

Five hours after the event, police named suspect Scott A. Ostrem, 47, as the lone shooter in the incident. Ostrem was arrested Thursday morning and appeared in court Friday.

Armed civilians carrying concealed weapons don't necessarily help law enforcement in a crisis situation, say gun control advocates. In fact, in this case, they hindered the investigation.

LA Times Columnist Curtis Lee wondered "Are more guns helpful?"

They were the proverbial “good guys with guns” that gun rights advocates say have the power to stop mass shootings. But police said that in this case the well-intentioned gun carriers set the stage for chaos, stalling efforts to capture the suspect in the Wednesday night shooting that killed three people. None of the armed civilians fired their weapons, and the suspect managed to flee the store.

One Denver father who lost his son to gun violence told Lee he has never believed that armed citizens can do anything positive in an active shooter situation. Tom Sullivan's 27-year old son, Alex, was one of 12 people killed in the 2012 Aurora theater shootings.

“Especially civilians with weapons — it does nothing but possibly cause more chaos and harm,” Sullivan said.

The Denver Post sought statistics from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York.

“It can work both ways,” Joseph Pollini, professor and deputy chair of the Law and Police Science Dept. told the Post. Pollini is a former 30-year veteran of the New York City Police Dept.

“In one, you have law abiding citizens present at the scene of a shooting that could terminate it, assist in apprehending the individual. But generally as a rule, you turn to the police for that aspect. It’s not common for civilians to do the job of police, and the fact that they carry firearms can very much complicate things.”

Read more on Patch:

Walmart Shooting Suspect Appears In Adams Co. Court

Walmart Shooting Victims' Families Seek Help For Funeral Expenses

Walmart Shooting: Colorado Cops Train For Active Shooters

Thornton Walmart Shooting: 3 Dead, Suspect Arrested

Image: Crews and police work at the scene in response to a shooting at Walmart in Thornton, Colo., Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2017. John Leyba/The Denver Post via AP