LENEXA, Kan. — A day after an armed man entered a Costco in Lenexa and threatened customers, people who were inside the store at the time continued to thank workers who helped evacuate others and the off-duty policeman who shot and killed the suspect.
The incident took place around 11 a.m. on Sunday at the Costco near I-35 and 95th Street.
Kerri O’Toole, who lives in Overland Park, said she visited the store over the weekend with her family.
“I woke up on Sunday and thought my boys are going to want to go to Costco today,” she explained. “I said, ‘Let's go back and get the two other Christmas decorating items that we didn't get back on Black Friday.’”
O’Toole, her husband, and her six-year-old son were in the cafeteria when the terror began.
“I started hearing all this commotion up in the front,” she told 41 Action News. “I heard the chains rattling for the doors to come down. Some people started running. I knew there was definitely something going on."
At that moment, O’Toole and her family ran to the back of the store with others.
During the evacuation, she could clearly remember Costco employees helping out others in need.
“They were moving things out of the way so more people could get through,” she explained. “They have families too that they need to get home to but they're pushing things out of the way so people can get through."
Despite the panic and fear many of the customers were feeling, O’Toole said the employees were able to keep their composure to get others out safely.
“They were calm but very stern and very direct on what to do,” she explained. “I’m so in shock still but I have so much gratitude towards that."
While O’Toole said she would remember the terror of the incident on Sunday, she would never forget the efforts of the Costco team and the off-duty officer who shot and killed the suspect.
“They are the heroes from that day,” she explained. “I will forever be grateful."
O’Toole and her family escaped Costco without injury on Sunday.
According to investigators, the off-duty officer was Captain Michael Howell of the Kansas City, Kansas Police Department.
The suspect has been identified as 58-year-old Ronald O. Hunt.
