Local

Beavercreek Walmart closes before demonstration


At least one person was arrested at a demonstration outside the Beavercreek Walmart, which closed early tonight.

About 15 to 20 people turned out for a 6 p.m. Black Lives Matter protest. By 6:30 p.m. the protesters dispersed but nine cruisers from Beavercreek and the Greene County Sheriff's Office remained in the parking lot.

This Walmart  was in the news because of the death of John Crawford III and Angela Williams on August 5, 2014. Crawford, 22, of Fairfield, was talking on his cell phone in the pet food department while carrying a pellet gun he picked up in another part of the store. Another store customer, Ronald T. Richey, called 911, telling the dispatcher Crawford was "pointing the gun" at people and said he thought at one point Crawford was loading the gun. Crawford was shot and killed by a Beavercreek police officer inside the Walmart store after police came to the scene. 

Walmart shopper Angela Williams collapsed in the store after the shooting. She was declared dead at nearby Soin Medical Center.

A Walmart manager said the store closed at 5 p.m., citing Christmas Eve for the early closing of the store at 3360 Pentagon Blvd. in Beavercreek. The store’s website had no information on its holiday hours. A recorded telephone message says the store is closed, but it did not specify a closing time. The store will reopen at 6 a.m. Saturday, according to the message.

We called several area Walmart stores in Dayton, Huber Heights, Moraine, Sugarcreek Twp. and Springfield and found that most were open until 8 p.m. tonight, with one closing at 7 p.m. and one at 7:30 p.m. — none as early as the Beavercreek store. A Beavercreek police officer said the store already was closing early tonight, but that it closed even earlier because of the planned demonstration.

No information was available tonight about the person who was arrested at the scene. Police dispatch referred questions to a police spokesman who would be avaialble on Monday.