
Shoppers stand outside Walmart at 80 Waterville Commons Drive on Tuesday following the evacuation of the store. Amy Calder/Morning Sentinel
WATERVILLE — Shoppers were evacuated from Walmart on Tuesday afternoon as emergency crews rushed to the scene. Minutes later, they loaded a man on a stretcher into a rescue truck and took him to a hospital.
About two hours later, Waterville police Maj. Jason Longley said in a statement that the man had “sustained a self-inflicted wound to his neck.”
“Medical personnel immediately began rendering aid, and the male subject was transported to the hospital with serious but believed to be non-life-threatening injuries,” Longley said.
The incident was reported just before 2 p.m. at the store, located at 80 Waterville Commons Drive.
At the scene just after 2 p.m., shoppers who had been cleared from the store were standing outside the west entrance, where multiple emergency vehicles were parked, some with lights flashing.

Waterville paramedics prepare to take a person to the hospital Tuesday following the evacuation of Walmart at 80 Waterville Commons Road. Waterville police say the man injured himself and the store was evacuated. Amy Calder/Morning Sentinel
Several minutes later, emergency crews emerged from the store with a man on a stretcher and loaded it into the back of a Waterville Fire-Rescue truck.

Shoppers stood outside in a biting wind, awaiting word about whether they could go back into the store.
Colby College student Ira Mukherjee, 21, of Boston, said she was in the paper goods aisle when an employee told her the store was being evacuated. She and a friend, who had just returned to Colby after winter break, were stocking up on items when another employee told them they must leave the building.
“They were being quite calm about it so I thought it was just a minor thing,” Mukherjee said.
Cathy Moshier, 55, of Cornville, said she was getting her hair trimmed at the salon inside Walmart when a woman ordered everyone to evacuate immediately.
“I had a cape on and couldn’t get it off,” Moshier said. “I had no idea what was going on. I’ve never had anything like that happen here. I was scared because of everything going on with the world, everything happening with the president getting back in office. I was not sure if there was an invasion or something.”
A Walmart employee who was standing just inside the automatic doors, telling people they weren’t allowed in because the store had been evacuated, declined comment, saying she had no authority to do so.
Waterville Commons Drive is off upper Main Street, behind Elm Plaza.
Longley praised all those who worked at the scene.
“Due to the quick work of our first responders to secure the scene and render aid, the patient was provided immediate lifesaving care,” he said. “The high level of training and proficiency displayed by everyone on scene was an incredible thing to witness.”
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.