SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — A man making a scene in a Santee Walmart prompted a large law enforcement presence at the store and a temporary closure Sunday afternoon.
According to the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department, an employee called 911 a bit past noon on July 2 to report that a man was standing on the shelves and disrupting customers.
Officers arrived on the scene in the 100 block of Town Center Parkway shortly after, and they were on the scene for at least seven hours.
At 5:48 p.m., SDSD tweeted the store will be closed “until further notice” as deputies worked to make contact with the man.
An ABC 10News reporter at the scene counted at least seven marked sheriff's department cars at the scene, as well as a few unmarked ones.
At around 7:25 p.m., our reporter witnessed what appeared to be a man being taken into custody by sheriff's deputies.
In a news release issued late Sunday evening, sheriff's officials stated:
"The Sheriff's Special Enforcement Detail (SED/SWAT) and Crisis Negotiations Team (CNT) were called to assist with the incident. During negotiations, deputies determined the man was experiencing a mental health crisis. The man refused to drop his weapons and refused to come down off the shelving. He told deputies several times to shoot him and walked toward them with the hatchet raised.
Deputies used de-escalation techniques and CNT was able to negotiate a peaceful surrender after seven hours. No one was hurt.
The man was taken into custody without incident and transported to a hospital for a mental health evaluation."
