Two days after he was fired from Walmart at Colony Place in Plymouth, a former employee allegedly threatened to shoot up the store and then kill himself, police said.
Plymouth police descended on the store Tuesday afternoon — with eight cruisers and two motorcycle units — after the department received a call about the threat. The massive police response sparked panic among shoppers and employees, according to police reports.
Ryan Larson, 33, whose mother told police he had worked at Walmart for almost 14 years, was fired Sunday after getting into altercations with landscapers working outside the store. He allegedly threatened them with a folding knife, police reported.
On Tuesday afternoon someone, believed to be Larson, called police stating that “he was going to kill himself after shooting up Walmart.”
When police told the store’s manager about the call, “she immediately gasped and stated she did not believe it to be a false threat,” police wrote.
She said that when Larson was fired on Sunday, he made concerning statements such as “keep an eye out for me” and “I’m not doing well,” police reports said.
He had been living in his truck in the parking lot outside Walmart, the manager told police, and was involved in two incidents with the landscapers on Saturday June 29.
“Due to the nature of the incidents, Mr. Larson living in his vehicle in the Walmart parking lot and Mr. Larson’s recent termination, [the manager] was concerned Mr. Larson would follow through with his threat,” wrote Plymouth patrol officer Matthew Carroll.
Police played the threatening phone call for three employees — all of whom identified the caller as Larson, police wrote.
One of them said that Larson was in the store Tuesday morning and was “visibly distraught, crying and appeared to be not doing well.”
Police then called Larson’s cellphone number. He denied making the call and told them he was fishing at Lout Pond.
After locating Larson, police notified Walmart managers that there was no current threat, but officers would patrol the area throughout the day, police reports said.
Larson told police he didn’t have any problems with Walmart, but he ticked off a list of other personal issues — a divorce, his job loss, financial hardship, and separation from his children, police wrote.
He denied feeling suicidal but admitted being “severely depressed” and anxious, reports said. He asked to speak to his mother, Laura Howe, who told police she was an animal control officer and select board member in Whitman.
Howe said she didn’t believe he would make a threatening call and felt there wasn’t anything wrong with her son, police reports said.
Police brought Larson to Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital-Plymouth, where he was admitted. Hospital officials told police on Wednesday that they planned to transfer Larson to a psychiatric hospital.
When officers returned to headquarters on Long Pond Road, Larson’s family was waiting. They were “obviously upset about the police interaction with Ryan,” wrote Plymouth patrol officer Aaron Wallace.
“(His mother) was concerned that a criminal case was being investigated and that we did not have any proof her son was involved with the threat,” Wallace wrote.
On Wednesday, police sought arrest warrants in Plymouth District Court charging Larson with making a bomb/hijack threat with serious public alarm, disturbing the peace, and making threats.
Police also asked for charges in connection with the earlier skirmishes with the landscapers — two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon — a knife.
Those warrants were issued later in the day.
Andrea Estes can be reached at andrea@plymouthindependent.org.