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Armed Citizens Stop Supermarket Shooter In Missouri

Peretz Partensky/Flickr

Police credited two armed citizens with stopping a man accused of murdering a woman in the parking lot of a grocery store.

Allen Thomas Prince was charged with one count of first-degree murder and multiple counts of armed criminal action and assault over a May 25 shooting at the Price Chopper supermarket in Pleasant Hill, Missouri, according to court documents. An unidentified sergeant with the Pleasant Hill Police Department said that two men had held Prince at gunpoint after the shooting, per the documents.

“Officers began securing the scene and locating witnesses to the event. [A witness] advised he came to Price Chopper to grab a few items [the witness] advised he was on the phone while sitting in the vehicle when he observed Allen reach into his vehicle and pull out a rifle,” the sergeant said in a probable cause statement. “He advised Allen fired a shot at a woman that was next to her vehicle and she fell to the ground.”

“[The witness] advised Allen then began scanning the parking lot and fired another round at a juvenile that was pushing shopping carts,” the sergeant continued. “[The witness] advised Allen began scanning the parking lot again. [The witness] got into his vehicle and began to leave the parking lot when he observed another male, approaching Allen with a pistol. [The witness] advised [officers that] he got his gun out of the truck and held Allen at gunpoint until officers arrived.”

The Pleasant Hill Police Department did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

The rifle was later identified as a .243 Winchester bolt-action rifle, according to the court documents. Pleasant Hill Police Chief Tommy Wright praised the citizens who intervened, according to Kansas City-area TV station KHSB 41.

“I applaud them,” Wright said. “I appreciate people like that being in our community… We think people should protect each other; this is a community that truly exists for each other, and these two men stepped forward… to prevent further violence.”

Prince had previously been charged with a felony for threatening to shoot a person in October 2025, but was released on his own recognizance despite police recovering a 20-gauge shotgun in his room, according to court records.