UPDATE: Police name Eldorado man in connection to pickup ramming Walmart on Sherwood Way
A vehicle smashed into the Walmart Supercenter on Sherwood Way overnight. The store reopened about 9:30 a.m. to customers.
UPDATE: Police name Eldorado man in connection to pickup ramming Walmart on Sherwood Way A vehicle smashed into the Walmart Supercenter on Sherwood Way overnight. The store reopened about 9:30 a.m. to customers. Check out this story on gosanangelo.com: http://www.gosanangelo.com/story/news/2018/06/28/vehicle-slams-into-san-angelo-walmart-supercenter/741673002/
San Angelo Standard-Times Published 9:55 a.m. CT June 28, 2018 | Updated 6:25 p.m. CT June 28, 2018
A vehicle crashed into the Walmart at 5501 Sherwood Way early Thursday, June 28, 2018.(Photo: Justin Hicks/San Angelo Standard-Times)Buy Photo
SAN ANGELO — Caleb Wilson, a 19-year-old from Eldoarado, was arrested on suspicion of plowing a pickup into the market section of a Walmart Supercenter at 5501 Sherwood Way at about 12:40 a.m. Thursday.
Wilson was attempting to purchase a pallet of water at the Walmart along with an 18-year-old female. They left the store and a patron saw them arguing, a San Angelo Police Department news release states. The bystander was concerned for the female's safety and convinced her to go back inside the store.
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Later, the patron and the female checked to see if Wilson had left, which is when Wilson sped toward them. They jumped out of the path of the pickup just in time to avoid being hit. Instead, the pickup smashed through the Walmart's market center entrance.
"We heard what we thought was big machinery," Mindy Ralston, a customer shopping in Walmart at the time, said. "We thought maybe it was a forklift gone wrong because we heard some chaos and some glass shattering."
But in mere moments, she knew it was something more.
"I heard just screaming," she said. "I heard 'Get out of the way,' 'Stop it,' 'What the hell are you doing?' Just, like, bloodcurdling screams."
Ralston and her partner frantically searched for a hiding spot from what they assumed was an active gunman.
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"I of course thought that it was a shooter for sure," she said. "There was no doubt in my mind that there was going to be a mass murder at Walmart in San Angelo, Texas."
She said the pickup made it to the cereal aisle, about two aisles from where they were hiding. At that point, she heard the vehicle tires loudly squeal before it drove out of the store.
Wilson smashed into several displays causing what police estimated to be about $500,000 worth of damage.
Police were dispatched to the store after receiving a report of a "major motor vehicle collision." Upon arriving, they spotted a red 2001 Dodge Ram 2500 leaving the building through the Walmart market center entrance.
Wilson tore through the parking lot, colliding with an unoccupied Toyota Camry, while officers attempted to stop it with lights and sirens. Officers also noticed fuel leaking from the pickup's undercarriage.
An eyewitness in the Walmart parking lot, Sandra Knox, said she also saw sparks emitting from the back of the pickup from something dragging along the asphalt.
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The vehicle continued to speed toward the Murphy USA gas station before police took the driver into custody and shut off them emergency fuel pump. The driver briefly resisted being handcuffed.
While detained, police say Wilson exhibited "excited delirium" and was transported to Shannon Medical Center for evaluation. While there, he became combative with hospital staff. As of the police news release, Wilson was receiving medical care.
Wilson is being charged on suspicion of first degree felony criminal mischief and two counts of aggravated assault with deadly weapon, police said.
No customers or store employees were hurt during the incident, according to a statement from Walmart.
After a short employee meeting, the store reopened for customers at about 9:30 a.m.
Following an employee pep talk this morning with some cheering, the Walmart on Sherwood Way in San Angelo reopened around 9:30 a.m. The deli section where a truck reportedly drove into looks pretty cleaned up and ready to go again. pic.twitter.com/vmfkPyF2sb
— Justin Hicks (@Hicks_JustinM) June 28, 2018
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