Police: Florida man asked Walmart employee for gun that 'would kill 200 people'

Man asked Walmart employee for gun that ‘would kill 200 people’

Police in Florida said they're looking for a man who entered a Walmart and asked for a gun that "would kill 200 people." The man in question spoke to a news station and admitted the comment was "in poor taste."

On Wednesday evening, a man entered the sporting goods section of a Port St. Lucie Walmart, interrupted a conversation a store clerk was having with another customer and asked if the store had a gun that could kill 200 people, Asst. Police Chief Richard Del Toro of Port St. Lucie Police told WPBF-TV.

The man repeated the comment, made a purchase and then left the store.

Police posted photos of the man pulled from surveillance videos Thursday morning to their Facebook page. They asked the public's help to identify the man.

Philip Attey II spoke to WPBF-TV and admitted to being the man who made the comment. It's unclear if the news station reached out to Attey, or if he reached out to them.

Attey said he made the comment because he was upset about gun violence.

"I'm at a Walmart just a few days after El Paso ... and I got mad," Attey said. "It was to get them to wake up and think about their role in the gun violence toxic climate that we have."

He admitted to the station that his comments may have gone too far.

It's unclear whether Attey has been in contact with police.