Gunman with body armour arrested at Missouri Walmart [PHOTOS]

Police arrested a man in body armour, with a loaded rifle and 100 rounds of ammunition, who walked into a Walmart store in Springfield, Missouri, on Thursday, alarming customers within in a week of back-to-back shootings that shocked the nation.

A national debate on gun safety was reignited by Saturday’s shooting in Texas that killed 22 in a Walmart store in El Paso on the border with Mexico, hours before another in Dayton, Ohio, on Sunday that killed nine people and the suspect.

No shots were fired in Thursday’s incident and it was unclear what the man’s motives were, Springfield police said in an online statement. A police representative was not immediately available to speak to Reuters early on Friday.

“An armed white male in his twenties was detained by an armed, off-duty fireman until officers arrived on the scene and took the suspect into custody,” the statement said, describing the incident at about 4pm in southwest Springfield.

He was arrested after walking out of the store with his weapon, police said.