BILLINGS — It all started like any other trip to Walmart. Jeremy and Michael Miller were busy shopping for fishing gear at the Walmart in Billings Heights June 4.
Everything seemed normal until they heard something that didn’t seem right.
“At first, I thought it was an employee slamming pallets because that's what it sounded like, was just like, ‘Bam, bam’,” Jeremy Miller said
Monday.
But it wasn’t an employee slamming pallets.
Watch full video of this father and son explaining what happened:
The father-son duo said they witnessed another customer attempting to steal a gun from the gun case.
“The guy hops over the counter where the knives are, takes the tire iron thing, smashes the glass, glass goes flying, hits my dad in the face,” Jeremy, the son, said.
Jeremy said things quickly escalated as glass lingered on the case and floor.
“When he broke the glass, he actually reached for that hunting rifle. And that's when I stopped the whole thing,” Michael said.
Michael jumped into action, blocking the counter and asking his son to grab zip ties to restrain the man until police arrived.
“I locked him up, detained him,” Michael said.
Michael added that the first thing police did was handcuff him and take him out of the store.
Billings Police Lt. Samantha Puckett confirmed the incident happened and added that prosecutors have not formally charged the suspect, who was not identified. Puckett said he was suffering a mental-health episode.
MTN News requested a statement from Walmart's corporate office but has not received a response as of Tuesday afternoon. (Update: A Walmart spokesperson sent the following statement Wednesday morning: "The safety of our customers is a top priority, and we strongly discourage customers from engaging in physical confrontation.")
Days after the scary moment, this father and son are reflecting on how differently this ordeal could have ended.
“I think if my dad and me weren't there, like there could have been some serious damage, collateral damage to happen,” Jeremy said.
Potential violence was averted, all due to a vigilant son and his father, who didn’t think twice about jumping into action.
“I think we just did whatever needed to be done,” Michael said.
