CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Social media was buzzing Wednesday afternoon with posts about an active shooter inside the Walmart on Greenwood Drive.
Thursday night, the Corpus Christi Police Department confirmed through a post on its blotter that chatter was false.
"This report was highly inaccurate," Lt. Michael Pena's post reads. "Erroneous posts such as these only cause fear and panic within the community."
What people likely mistook for a shooter was the presence and arrest of 40-year-old Fernando Iglesias. The Department of Public Safety said he had a revolver in his waistband while stealing items from the Walmart and immediately prior to his arrest.
Troopers arrested Iglesias for a number of alleged crimes, but chief among them was a violent robbery Wednesday morning.
He allegedly took a test drive in a red Mustang from the AutoNation Ford dealership. Along the way, DPS said he pulled into the Kiko's Mexican Restaurant parking lot, pulled a knife on the salesperson riding with him, and told the man to get out before driving off in the Mustang.
Then came the theft from Walmart that afternoon -- something DPS Sgt. Nathan Brandley said Iglesias had done several times.
"You normally don't see someone go through so many different (crimes) in one day like that," Brandley said. "It's a little rare."
DPS and CCPD worked together to locate Iglesias and the Mustang. They found them both at the Greenwood Walmart.
Brandley said Iglesias resisted arrest and ended up with bloody markings on his face. But his injuries weren't serious, and troopers took him to jail without any further incident.
"We're very fortunate that there was nobody injured in the incident," Brandley said. "No one was shot. No one was stabbed. But (there were) still scary moments for people that had to be there that day, or work with him or know him."
