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'I asked for help': Mother of man charged in Walmart incident says he has mental health issues

The McDowell News - 7/5/2017

Around Memorial Day, Lisa Charmin pleaded with police to take her son to a hospital.

Kydale Lindsay's state of mind had deteriorated in the previous few weeks - he wasn't the same fun, happy guy relatives knew him as.

Following policy, officers couldn't take him because he wasn't a threat to himself or others and it would infringe upon his civil rights. Lindsay, 21, told his mother after the meeting that he wanted to buy a gun.

On Thursday, he walked into the Irvington Walmart and showed the shotgun to four former co-workers in the break room. He later told police that he brought the gun to protect him "from the government that's given everyone AIDS," a prosecutor said Friday.

"His mind is not right," Charmin said. "I asked for help ... so that it doesn't escalate and get to this point."

Lindsay has been charged with four counts of terroristic threats and four counts of use of a gun to commit a felony. He was ordered held in jail on $250,000 bail, and must pay 10 percent to be released.

A Lyft driver took Lindsay and another man to the Walmart near 99th Street and Blair High Road. She noticed that Lindsay was carrying a shotgun wrapped in a coat, according to a police report, and told an officer that she was afraid to stop the vehicle and force the men out.

After dropping the men off at Walmart, she called the police. Officers went to the store about 11:45 a.m.

Lindsay went into the store's break room and displayed the gun to four workers who were there, a prosecutor said Friday.

One co-worker told police that seeing the gun "put her in fear," according to a report. A manager also said she was fearful.

Officers evacuated the store and surrounded the break room.

Lindsay quickly surrendered without incident, police said.

His sister, Ginger Charmin, said he had recorded a live video of himself during the ordeal. He also tweeted at 10:53 a.m.: "GOING TO GET MY LAST PAY STUB FROM WALMART!"

His mother and sister said he had quit his job at Walmart, where he had worked his way up.

Ginger Charmin said her younger brother used to always tell jokes, smile and laugh. He won a talent show at North High School because of his singing chops - he belted out notes like a male version of Whitney Houston, his mom said. He also attended Midland University and was on the wrestling team, she said, but quit to be closer to his grandmother.

But things had changed in the past few weeks.

Ginger Charmin said she tried to call Immanuel Medical Center on Monday to get him committed, but he would have had to go voluntarily.

His jail booking photo - with drooping eyelids and a blank gaze - doesn't accurately represent him, his mother said.

"That looks crazy," Lisa Charmin said. "He's not a walking zombie."

Charmin said she hopes her son gets the help she has wanted for him for weeks.

"Instead of an evaluation, what he got is a charge. What does that solve? He still needs help," she said. "I hope that now that he's here in jail, that it's official, that they can understand and see that he has a mental problem."

alia.conley@owh.com, 402-444-1068