August 28, 2014

Mother of 2 Shot Dead by Walmart Security Guard in Alleged Shoplifting Incident

Mother of 2 Shot Dead by Walmart Security Guard in Alleged Shoplifting Incident

The victim, 27-year-old Shelley Frey, was allegedly stealing from the store with two other women Tisa Andrews and Yolanda Craig, when they were approached by 26-year law enforcement vet Louis Campbell, the report notes.

The women allegedly ran away to a get away car, pursued by Campbell, who works as a security guard at the store. Campbell opened fire on the car as the women tried to drive away, hitting Frey, a mother of two young children, in the neck, killing her.

http://www.theroot.com/articles/culture/2014/08/houston_mother_of_2_shot_dead_by_walmart_security_guard_in_alleged_shoplifting.html?wpsrc=ob_july

That happened a couple of years ago but what I want to highlight is the store policy. From Walmart's statement after this killing:

“We hire off duty officers to provide security to some of our stores. While we have policies in place for our associates to disengage from situations that might put them or others in harm's way, off-duty officers working at a WM store are authorized to act in accordance with their department's code of conduct.”

That reads to me as a green-light for the use of deadly force by some of its part-time employees. So many questions....Why wouldn't all security officers have to abide by the disengagemet policy? At what point did his "code of conduct" even suggest drawing a weapon?

The family sued but I was unable to locate anything about a resolution or even any results of the subsequent investigation.