Arson at Chamblee Walmart triggers evacuation, store remains closed for investigation

A fire in the bathroom aisle sent shoppers and associates out of the Walmart at 1871 Chamblee Tucker Road in Chamblee and left the store closed while investigators worked the scene. Police said the blaze started after a man allegedly set several bathroom mats and towels on fire inside the store.

Chamblee police received the call at 1:31 p.m. on May 2. The store was evacuated immediately, and DeKalb Fire Rescue knocked down the flames quickly. No one was injured. For Walmart workers, that sequence is the part that matters most: one fast-moving incident can halt an entire shift, clear the sales floor in minutes and leave the building dark while leaders and emergency crews decide what happens next.

Officials identified the suspect as Abdul Jabar Raheem Mubbraik Favors, 45. He faces charges including first-degree arson and criminal damage to property. Police said surveillance footage reportedly showed him walking toward a MARTA station after the fire. He was later arrested at the Doraville MARTA station and taken to the DeKalb County jail.

The store remains closed while the city, DeKalb Fire Rescue and police process the scene and determine when it can safely reopen. That kind of closure affects more than one store visit. It can disrupt scheduled shifts, force last-minute staffing changes and push customer traffic to nearby locations while managers wait on clearance to reopen sales floors, restrooms and back-of-house areas that may need inspection or cleanup.

The Chamblee store has already been through another major public-safety disruption earlier in 2026, when a man was killed in a police shooting tied to a shoplifting call near the same Walmart corridor on Chamblee Tucker Road. Taken together, the two incidents have made this location a familiar name in a year of abrupt operational shocks.

For associates at other Walmart stores, the immediate questions are practical ones: how fast a site can be evacuated, how payroll and schedules are handled when a building is suddenly closed, and how long it takes to restore normal customer flow after fire crews clear the scene. In Chamblee, those answers now depend on investigators and building inspectors, not the usual retail timetable.