it was never made clear in the articles that he didnt just bring some fake gun from home.
if it was a toy or something from walmart they would have mentioned that.
i can imagine lots of situations where a toy gun can get a person shot by cops. and still for good reason.
regardless where it came from he was doing something odd with toy gun he for some reason brought with him to a store.
and of course we will never hear a follow up of this. cuz main stream media.