Anchorage police say 25-year-old Mandallo Shearrod was arrested near the Fairview Carrs Safeway grocery store Tuesday morning after he tried to take toys and other items after threatening two employees with what turned out to be a BB gun. APD dispatchers say Shearrod, now in custody, was involved with what was initially reported as an armed robbery, with no shots fired and nobody injured. Police received their first call about the incident in the store, at 1340 Gambell St., at 9:39 a.m. Tuesday. Senior Patrol Officer Kevin Armstrong says police responded within a minute.
Armstrong says Shearrod entered the store and started loading merchandise into bags he had brought with him. "It looked like a bunch of children's stuff, Hello Kitty toys and other things inside the bag," he said.
The staff recognized Shearrod from what Armstrong described as a "previous trespass." Knowing he wasn't allowed on the premises, two clerks tried to talk to him when, police say, Shearrod produced what appeared to be a gun. Armstrong says the suspect threatened the two staffers and told them to leave him alone.
As Shearrod was leaving the store, he was confronted by another clerk who recognized him. Police say Shearrod pulled his weapon out and pointed it at the clerk making verbal threats.
Arriving officers found the suspect near the store, headed north on Gambell after crossing 13th Avenue. Police say As police arrived Sherrod dropped the weapon, which Armstrong described as an Airsoft pellet pistol designed to look like "a sub-compact Glock," before he was taken into custody.
Armstrong says using a non-lethal weapon won't change the charges Shearrod now faces. "It looks like regular pistol," Armstorng said of the pellet gun. "If he had produced it on anybody, they would have had the right to believe it was a real firearm. If it looks like a gun, and people perceive it as a gun, we treat it like a gun."
Shearrod is now charged with theft, criminal trespassing, assault, and first-degree robbery.
Channel 2’s Matthew Smith contributed information to this story.
This is a developing story. Please check KTUU.com and the Channel 2 newscasts for updates.