Posted on 12/08/2012 7:39:00 PM PST by Morgana
FULL TITLE: Walmart security guard shoots 'shoplifting' mother dead in parking lot as she tries to escape with two young children
A 27-year-old mother of two has been fatally shot by an off-duty sheriff's deputy after he suspected her of shoplifting at a Houston Walmart.
Harris County Sheriff's deputies have said that victim Shelly Frey, Tisa Andrews and Yolanda Craig were stealing when they were confronted by Louis Campbell a 26-year veteran of the force who works as a security guard at the store.
According to Campbell the women ran to their car and when he rushed to open the door, they accelerated away - at which point he fired the deadly shot into the car which hit Frey in the neck.
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Security at the store on the 14000 block of the North Freeway had noticed the three women 'stuffing items inside their purses' and notified Campbell, who was working an extra job that evening.
Investigators with Harris County said the three women even attempted to pay for some small items to act as a cover for the shoplifted ones.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Wake up poop head.
Shoplifting was a felony for each of these fools, and now it is also murder one for two of them.
The innocent do not flee, they halt when ordered to do so; so do the wisest of the guilty.
Guess she was a perfect thief too.
The shooter was being physically dragged by the car, and was in immediate risk of losing his life.
Shot placement was adequate to remove the threat.
Sorry, using deadly force: ie, shooting someone, should be applied when a felony has been committed and someones life is on the line.
Read along very carefully: SOMEONE'S LIFE WAS ON THE LINE. That someone was the officer who was giving a lawful order, "STOP THE CAR" to a suspect attempting to flee after being caught red-handed in the commission of a crime.
Was there a felony being committed?
Yes, that felony even has a name, it's called attempted vehicular homicide.
Just because someone is standing in front of your car does not give you the right to run them over, nor do you have the right to run over a cop while fleeing a crime scene, even if he is standing in your open car door.
Agreed. Bad situations make for good object lessons.
Hitting a policeman is a felony in Texas. If you have a problem with that then you’re more than welcome to lobby to change the law. Until then, it stands.
This is not uncommon at all in the world of the professional shoplifters. The actual perps go do their thing in the store while a driver parks on the sidewalk or firelane for a quick exit. The theft of larger items has them parking in an actual parking space close to the store facing out. They like to back into a spot like that with a car behind them so you can't see that they've put cardboard over the licence plate so the cameras don't get the plate number.
And re: kids in the car - for people like this stealing is more like shopping than anything else. They pop in, get the stuff they need and leave. They just forget that whole "pay" thing. The kids aren't shields or anything, they're just probably on their way to grandma's house so the parent(s) can go party. Happens more than you'd think in your average Walmart. That's why you really shouldn't park on the sidewalk.
Taking that back, he was acting as security so misdemenor.
After reading everything...I conclude
Thank God this LEO was in Texas!
In some states the LEO would be prosecuted...even though his actions were in self-defense.
One less criminal on someone’s street. This LEO is a hero, not incompetent or murderous
You forgot the sarcasm tag.
“One less criminal on EVERYones street.”
There fixed it for you!!!
Corporations hire off duty cops to stop traffic so their employees can get out of the parking lot. I’ve always wondered what gives an off duty cop the right to stop traffic in a non-emergency situation? If it’s neccessary to stop traffic then a traffic light should be installed that only operates during shift change.
I watched a cop scream obscenities at an old lady. He threw his hand up for her to stop way too late for her to react. I called to complain and was told the cop didn’t exist.
“Shoplifting was a felony for each of these fools, and now it is also murder one for two of them.”
That’s where your logic falls apart... First: Shoplifting is NOT a felony in most jurisdictions, it is a misdemeanor, of course depending on the amount involved... In Walmart it’s a stretch to think that the dollar value would be very high.
Secondly, once you shoot someone their never going to be convicted of anything, so they will be innocent under the law.
Third, the one driving was not the one shot... Even if the driver intended to run the guy down, you could never convict the passenger of that since she’s dead.
Seems to me that the shooter is in big trouble.
‘Shelly was the perfect mom, perfect friend, perfect daughter,’ said her father, Shelton Frey.
So his perfect little girl was stealing perfectly???? And trying to run over a cop in perfect form????? We can all hope we have such perfect daughters.
It drug his shoes off? Could he not let go? And how dangerous is it to shoot in a crowded parking lot while being dragged by a car. What would be said if some kid in a shopping cart had been hit?
I watched a cop draw down on a guy in a parking lot of a grocery store. He had his gun drawn and was screaming “On the fu..ing ground!” The guy he was pointing the gun at was looking around with a “You talking to me?” look. Ended up the cop “thought” he recognized the guy as a criminal.
Just weird.
Just how crowded was the parking lot in this case?
It's a risk one takes when one steals other people's stuff.
Shooting a fleeing thief, under most circumstances, is perfectly legal... in Texas. Especially if it was at night, which it apparently was. But that's not the reason he fired, he fired because he feared for his own safety.
But this is still a very sad situation. The young woman resembles my niece somewhat, or would without without the heavy makeup. So I can relate to her family's pain. She's also only a couple of years older than my niece.
But the family apparently doesn't know what their "little girl" has become. Katrina was a long time ago for someone that age, and she left where they lived at that time.
If that dumb bitch was committing crimes while her kids were in the getaway vehicle, her death is the best thing that could happen to them.
Doesn't matter, wouldn't matter if he was a private citizen with a CHL, or a handy handgun in his own vehicle. The laws regarding use of deadly force are the same. The only exception is that you can't use deadly force against a cop trying to arrest you, if a reasonable person would have known he/she was a cop that is.
Yes
Could he not let go?
Dunno. he could have been entangled in something, or more likely he believed if he let go he would be crushed under the wheels.
And how dangerous is it to shoot in a crowded parking lot while being dragged by a car.
The near certainty of being killed by a runaway car driven by a murderous driver vs the possibility of someone innocent being hurt?
I don't know which way you'd call it, but I'd have emptied the magazine m'self.
What would be said if some kid in a shopping cart had been hit?
"I'm sorry." And he doubtless would have wholeheartedly felt it with every fiber of his being.
Contrast this to the attitude of the dead girl's friends. They couldn't even be bothered to throw her out in front of an ER and speed off. They watched her bleed out.
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