VALLEY – A Valley man was arrested Thursday night after walking into Walmart with a cup of alcohol and running away from police officers, according to Valley Police Chief Tommy Weldon Friday morning.

Key Pruitt, 30, was taken into custody for public intoxication, resisting arrest, attempt to elude, and disorderly conduct. Weldon said Friday there could also be charges for assault second degree, which is a Class C felony.

Weldon said when Pruitt entered the store, he had an open container with alcohol and appeared to be intoxicated. Because officers were already in the store due to the busy holiday event, they quickly attempted to contact him. Once this happened, Weldon said Pruitt allegedly ran away from the officer, starting a foot chase which ended just outside the doors.

During the arrest, Weldon said the officers attempted to subdue the suspect with a Taser, but a wrestling match ensued, and the officer hurt his shoulder. Weldon said this incident probably meets the requirements for a second-degree assault charge, but a warrant hasn’t been signed yet.

During the incident, social media reports began to swirl around the Greater Valley Area of an active shooter. Weldon said there was never a gun present or were any shots fired. He said the social media page Chambers County Bugle first reported it as a shooting based on posts from customers and employees of the store. Weldon said once he heard of the rumors, he called the owner of the page and told them what really happened.

“In today’s climate, that is just the way it is,” Weldon said. “Because of social media, they post stuff because of what they perceived happened, they don’t wait to hear from law enforcement what happened.”

He said social media rumors spread a lot quicker than the truth does because the police have to be sure of their information before releasing it to the public.

“It takes us a minute to make sure what happened and make sure everybody is safe and make sure there isn’t another threat,” he said. “It (the rumors) created a panic after people started reporting things that weren’t true.”

Pruitt was still incarcerated in the Chambers County Jail Friday morning.