It was eight in the evening, not morning. Nevertheless, Crawford was behaving strangely. There are other witnesses who have said he was waving the rifle around and these people couldn’t tell it was an air rifle and not the real thing.
What has really been hushed up is what he was doing in Beavercreek’s Walmart when he lived 40 miles away in Hamilton. There is also a discrepancy in the story about just who he was talking to on the phone. The family says it was his Dad, a woman claims she was on the phone with him and is his girlfriend, and a second woman also claims to be his girlfriend and is the person who drove him to the Beavercreek Walmart. Much of the information available in the hours after the shooting has been set aside in favor of his family’s wrongful death narrative. Our local paper is no help, since it charges for what it calls ‘premium content”.
I’ve watched the video a few times now, and his behavior doesn’t come across as alarming to me at all.
The woman and two children who stopped in the same aisle don’t seem alarmed, either. (According to what I’ve read, she’s supposedly the same woman who collapsed and died of a heart attack when police shot Crawford.)
I’ve come across people carrying real guns through Walmart, and I wasn’t alarmed.
There are youtube videos of people purchasing firearms at Walmart. For example, if you go to this link, at around 1:20, the “customer” (really a Frenchman who obviously isn’t a serious customer) positions it to check it out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibtt6wTIaHk
Meanwhile, Crawford was just carrying an air rifle. It’s a shame - really sad for two victims and their families.