Heavily armed man acting suspiciously outside Mississippi Walmart detained, court-ordered for mental treatment

Published 10:42 am Wednesday, August 28, 2019

A heavily armed man who was reportedly acting suspiciously outside a Mississippi Walmart has been court-ordered to undergo mental health treatment, police reported Wednesday.

The incident began on Friday, Aug. 16, when police received a call of a suspicious man at the Walmart in Petal, Mississippi.

The man was seen carrying a handgun in his waistband, purchased ammunition in the store and then was sitting in his vehicle in the parking lot for 15 minutes.

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That’s when Walmart employees called police.

Petal police officers arrived and located Patsy Victorius Delvecchio III, 22, as he was leaving the Walmart.

Police stopped him for questioning and they observed in addition to a handgun, observed in his vehicle, he also had an AR-15 style rifle and 500 rounds of ammunition, including 10 loaded magazines.

Police also noticed a notebook containing a note to “buy more ammo.”

After talking with Delvecchio, police determined he had not committed a crime at the time and he was released.

Upon further investigation police viewed surveillance video in store.

“At one point in the video, we observed him take what would be considered an aggressive stance while facing the front entrance of the store,” Petal Police Chief Matthew Hiatt said.

The following day police located Delvecchio driving near the same Walmart and made a traffic stop on him and detained him for questioning.

Delvecchio was mentally evaluated and the court system conducted a hearing and determined he needed mental health treatment.

Hiatt said upon completion of treatment Delvecchio will be remanded back to the custody of law enforcement to complete the investigation. He has not been charged with a crime.