A man was arrested in North Little Rock on Saturday after police said an incident led to the temporary closure of the Walmart in Jacksonville.
In a Facebook post at 9:21 a.m., Jacksonville police said officers are “currently handling an incident at Walmart” and that the store is closed.
In an update at 10:25 a.m., police said the situation had been resolved and the store was reopened.
Less than two and a half hours later on Saturday, Jacksonville police posted on Facebook that a man had threatened to shoot Walmart employees in a phone conversation with a switchboard operator “for leaving the company’s premises without entering the building.”
In the post, police said Kenyon Branch was arrested for falsely communicating terrorist threats and second-degree identity fraud.
According to a Jacksonville police arrest report, Branch, 47, of Jacksonville was arrested at 10:31 a.m. at the Walmart on East McCain Boulevard in North Little Rock.
According to the report, officers responded to the Walmart at 2000 John Harden Drive in Jacksonville after a man threatened dispatchers over the phone.
The man told dispatchers he was a federal investigator who was about to shoot and resuscitate people at Walmart because he had been asked by employees to leave the store, the report said.
Walmart employees gave police the license plate of the car they believed belonged to the man who made the threats, the report said.
Police determined the vehicle belonged to Branch, the report said.
Police dispatch pinged the phone from which the threatening call was made and checked with the phone company to see if the number also belonged to Branch, the report said.
Branch, who was being held at the Pulaski County Jail on Saturday, was tracked down by North Little Rock police, who assisted Jacksonville police in making the arrest, the report said.
“The safety of our employees and customers is our top priority. We are aware of the situation and are working closely with local law enforcement,” said Amber Girdley of Walmart Corporate Affairs & Global Communications.
This story has been updated.
