This year it seems like I've been reading about a lot of shootings at Walmarts around the nation. Shootings happen in all sorts of locations and types of retail stores. And yet, for some reason, Walmart seems to bear the brunt of them.
So I started cataloging them. Even I was surprised at the number of shootings that have occurred just this year on Walmart property. 55, at last count, so far in 2012! That's more than one a week. See the list below.
Reports of shootings involving shoplifters. Police responding to conflicts. Drug deals in the parking lot. Road rage and gang shootings. Even suicides. That number doesn't even include armed robberies, gun thefts, or any other gun crimes where shots weren't fired.
Why are there so many? Is it just because there are a LOT of Walmart locations around the country? And yet, other than one or two sporadic reports, you don't hear about so many shootings at Kmart stores, or Target, or Costco. Is it because Walmart sells guns and ammo, and those others don't? As far as I can tell, Target never did. Kmart stopped selling guns and ammo in 2009. Costco in 2006.
Is Walmart's pro-gun stance a factor? Does it make people feel justified in taking their guns to Walmart and settling disputes in a violent manner?
In 2006, Walmart stopped selling guns in two-thirds of its stores, but resumed sales of rifles, shotguns, and ammunition in 2011. They even sell assault rifles. It would be interesting to do a study of shooting incidents before and after they resumed sales.
Walmart's motto these days, is "Save money. Live better." If this is what they mean by living better, I think they might want to re-think their pro-gun stance, or perhaps get more security guards.
There is now a blog devoted entirely to shootings and other gun crimes at Walmart stores: called Walmart Shootings. You can find a review of 2012 Walmart gun incidents at the Walmart Shootings blog post, HERE.
So here are the Walmart shooting incidents that I am aware of (where shots were fired):
December 24, 2012 -- Martinsville, Virginia: Two drivers engaged in a road rage incident pulled into the Walmart parking lot and started attacking each other. One used an aluminum bat, hitting the other several times. The other used a gun, wounding the "batter" in the upper leg.
December 18, 2012 -- Beaufort, South Carolina: A man was wounded, shot in the arm, after a dispute with two other men in the Walmart parking lot. The two suspects escaped.
December 7, 2012 -- Castle Rock, Colorado: Two men shot a gun multiple times in the Walmart parking lot, hitting at least one vehicle. Luckily, no one was injured.
December 7, 2012 -- Houston, Texas: An off-duty sheriff's deputy, working as security, confronted two female shoplifters. When they tried to drive away, he shot at them, killing one.
November 26, 2012 -- Blairsville, Pennsylvania: A 40-year old man saw a 10-point whitetail buck run through a Walmart parking lot, on the first day of hunting season, so he pulled out his rifle and shot it to death, firing multiple rounds and pursuing it across the street before it died.
November 23, 2012 -- Tallahassee, Florida: In what appears to be a dispute over a parking space, two people were shot and wounded. The shooters fled, and the victims were treated at a local hospital.
November 14, 2012 -- Laurel, Maryland: A man robbed the local Walmart store, then took a 28-year old store employee outside, shot him once in the chest, then fled, lighting a car on fire after ditching it. The employee was taken to the hospital and treated.
November 10, 2012 -- Louisville, Kentucky: In an apparent domestic dispute, a 46-year old woman, Michelle Hahn, came out of a Walmart and was putting groceries her car in the parking lot when a 44-year old male, Charles R. Fickentsher, shot her to death. He then fled the scene, but was found shortly after at a nearby park with a fatal, self-inflicted wound. Fickentsher had a history of domestic violence.
October 29, 2012 -- Kernersville, North Carolina: Justin Ross Murphy, 20, opened fire inside the Walmart, shooting three times in the Electronics Department. Motive is unknown. Luckily, no one was harmed, and Murphy was captured later by police.
October 26, 2012 -- El Paso, Texas: A man was driving in the Walmart parking lot when he noticed he was being followed. He pulled over, and the other driver got out and shot the man three times, shattering bones in his leg and his ankle, then beat the man with his gun, rendering the victim unable to support himself. The suspect and motive are unknown.
October 13, 2012 -- Fredericksburg, Texas: A Walmart employee was shot in the arm in the Walmart parking lot.
September 25, 2012 --
Stockbridge, Georgia: Three men got
into an argument in a Walmart parking lot.
One
pulled out a gun and shot another in the abdomen. The victim survived. The other two men fled the sceen.
September 21, 2012 --
Margate, Florida: Terrell Kennith
Johnson, 22, was caught stealing a packages of women's undergarments. When loss-prevention employee Lewis Jhon, 49,
tried to stop him at the entrance, Johnson
pulled out a handgun and shot Jhon, killing him. Johnson ran, but was later found dead with a
self-inflicted gunshot wound.
September 11, 2012 --
Chattanooga, Tennessee: Desi Arnez Lawrence left his keys on a Walmart counter. A man, Christopher Goins, and
his female companion found the keys, then went into the parking lot and found the vehicle by
using the key fob. They were about to
drive away in the vehicle when Lawrence came out and found them, then fireda gun at the car thieves. It's not
clear if he hit them or not. Lawrence was not charged.
September 3, 2012 -- Salem, Oregon: 41-year old Salem resident Mark Edward Brown was waiting outside the door to Walmart for Bryan John Lee Knorr, 28. When he saw Knorr, he approached and the two got into an argument. Brown then pulled out a handgun and shot Knorr, killing him. Brown was later arrested.
August 23, 2012 --
Jackson, Tennessee: Wallace
Jimmerson followed his wife to her job at Walmart after fighting with her, then
tried to run her over in the parking lot.
He
then opened fire on her, hitting her twice in the arm and the leg. He was captured later that day.
August 20, 2012 --
Eastlake, Ohio: A man had just
parked in the Eastlake Walmart when 27-year old Joshua Baughman allegedly robbed
him at gunpoint, then shot him in the chest. The victim survived. Baughman then fled the scene. Days later, however, he was
found dead.
August 20, 2012 --
Stanford, Kentucky: An 71-year old man, Jackie Murphy, was caught
shoplifting sandpaper and chased out of the Walmart, then exchanged
gunfire with police outside. The
shoplifter was hit four times.
August 19, 2012 --
Cedar Park, Texas: Soloman
Onwukaife, 18, got into an argument at a party, so he and the others met to
fight at a Walmart parking lot. Onwukaife
then shot and injured four people, all of whom were 18 or 19 years old.
August 15, 2012 --
Knoxville, Tennessee: Travis Cozart,
37, a former football player, was
shot and injured at a local Walmart parking lot. Cozart has a long arrest record, including
for drugs and robbery and for allowing his baby to ingest cocaine.
August 12, 2012 --
Hartselle, Alabama: A man was
reported as intoxicated at a Walmart gas station. When police arrived to investigate, the
man pulled out a handgun and shot himself to death.
August 6, 2012 -- Albany, Georgia: A man shopping in Walmart with a loaded handgun was asked by another shopper about his gun. He then prepared to hand the gun to the other shopper when he unintentionally fired the weapon. Thankfully no one was injured.
July 23, 2012 -- Dallas, Texas: Todd Canady, 23, discharged his concealed .40-caliber handgun while waiting in the checkout line. He injured himself in the ankle with debris, and shrapnel injured two children and their mother waiting next to him. Canady panicked and fled, and was later arrested. He claimed it was an accident, despite the fact that the gun had two safety switches. Canady had a concealed handgun license.
July 23, 2012 -- Dallas, Texas: Todd Canady, 23, discharged his concealed .40-caliber handgun while waiting in the checkout line. He injured himself in the ankle with debris, and shrapnel injured two children and their mother waiting next to him. Canady panicked and fled, and was later arrested. He claimed it was an accident, despite the fact that the gun had two safety switches. Canady had a concealed handgun license.
July 19, 2012 --
Tulsa, Oklahoma: A group of people
were kicked out of a bar. The group took
to their cars, and one tried to run another off the road. The fight ended in a Walmart parking lot. The suspect fired
at one of the cars in the parking lot, then the suspect ran into the
Walmart before being arrested after a search.
July 13, 2012 --
Pittsburg, California: A man on a
bicycle and the occupants of an SUV got into an argument in a Walmart parking
lot. The man on the bicycle then rode
away, but the SUV followed him and theyopened fire on him, wounding him.
July 5, 2012 --
Bradenton, Florida: Undercover
police went to the local Walmart parking lot to arrest some people for selling
narcotics. The driver of a vehicle
attempted to flee and ran over one of the policemen. Another policeman fired
two shots at the driver, missing, and the driver got away. Two other suspects were arrested.
July 2, 2012 --
Greeley, Colorado: In what appears
to be a gang-related incident, a
man shot another man in a Walmart parking lot. The victim went inside the building, while
the shooter fled police outside. He
holed up in an apartment briefly before being arrested.
June 25, 2012 -- Opelousas,
Louisiana: Eric
Winbush, Jr., and Kerry Guillory, 26, got into an argument at a Walmart just
outside the entrance. Guillory then
pulled out a .38-caliber handgun and shot
Winbush in the abdomen. Guillory
fled, but later turned himself in to police.
June 19, 2012 --
Woodhaven, Michigan: 39-year old
Charles Brown Jr. and a female companion were caught shoplifting at the Walmart. When police responded and approached them in
the parking lot, Brown threatened them with a screwdriver. When told to drop the screwdriver, he then
jumped into his car and tried to run over the police, at
which point they shot and killed him.
The woman was apprehended.
June 15, 2012 --
Warsaw, New York: A man in a Walmart
parking lot committed
suicide by shooting himself there.
June 6, 2012 -- Sand
Springs, Oklahoma: A suicidal man
behind a Walmart shot
his gun into the air twice when confronted by police, but police diffused
the situation. The store never closed.
June 2, 2012 --
Savannah, Georgia: Shots
were fired in the Walmart parking lot, and two cars sped off in opposite
directions.
May 25, 2012 --
Houston, Texas: Two men met at a Walmart
parking lot in what was supposed to be a sale of a shoes advertised on
Craigslist. Instead, the supposed seller
pulled a gun and tried to rob the intended buyer. The man who was supposed to purchase shoes was
shot twice and injured, once in the back and once in the chest.
May 12, 2012 --
Fulton, Missouri: A domestic
argument started at a bar and then moved to a Walmart parking lot. When one person tried to leave in a vehicle,
a person in another vehicle fired
at least two shots into the other person's car. No one was injured.
May 9, 2012 --
Tucson, Arizona: Two groups of
people got into an argument in a Walmart parking lot. This turned into a fight between two men,
one from each group. One of them, age
20,
pulled out a gun and shot the other, a 25-year old man, who died at the
scene. The shooter fled but was
apprehended by a security guard from a nearby apartment complex.
May 6, 2012 --
Lawrence, Indiana: Two men were
shot in a vehicle in a Walmart parking lot by a
white female. They drove a short way
before a relative called 911 for them.
April 30, 2012 -- San Antonia, Texas: An off-duty security guard unintentionally shot himself in the leg while unholstering his handgun and getting in his car in the Walmart parking lot.
April 21, 2012 -- Morgantown, West Virginia: Larry Mitchell, 54, wasn't happy with his son's soon-to-be ex-wife, Shannon Stafford. He surprised her at a Walmart gas station and shot her several times while she was in her car and as she exited. Stafford died from her wounds. Witnesses captured Mitchell and held him until police arrived.
April 21, 2012 -- Morgantown, West Virginia: Larry Mitchell, 54, wasn't happy with his son's soon-to-be ex-wife, Shannon Stafford. He surprised her at a Walmart gas station and shot her several times while she was in her car and as she exited. Stafford died from her wounds. Witnesses captured Mitchell and held him until police arrived.
April 20, 2012 --
College Station, Texas: Michael
Bradshaw, 47, was caught shoplifting. A
loss-prevention employee escorted him to the office. There, Bradshaw pulled out a handgun and
aimed it at the employee and a struggle ensued.
The gun went off, but only hit a filing cabinet, and the employee was
able to wrest the gun from his hands.
Bradshaw then attacked the employee with a knife, at which point the
employee shot
Bradshaw to death his the gun.
April 17, 2012 --
Sacramento, California: An armored
car was parked in front of a Walmart entrance, and the guards were unloading
money. That's when a man tasered the
guard in a robbery attempt. The guard chased the
man and shot him in the leg. Another
robber in a getaway vehicle tried to run over the guard.
April 15, 2012 --
Tampa, Florida: Two men, Dylan Iwan
Landvreugd, 19, and Travis Gray, 20, got into an argument in Walmart. Gray tried to leave, and Landvreugd
followed. Just outside the entrance, Landvreugd
pulled out a 9mm handgun and shot Gray twice in the torso. Landvreugd then fled, but was later arrested
in New York.
April 9, 2012 -- Phoenix, Arizona: As two Walmart employees were moving money into a cash register, a man robbed them. When a store manager, 47-year-old Peter Marquez, tried to stop the robber just outside the doors, the robber shot him and killed him. The shooter escaped.
April 8, 2012 --
Lynchburg, Virginia: Two men got
into an argument in a Walmart parking lot.
One pulledout a gun and fired on the other, wounding him.
April 8, 2012 --
Shreveport, Louisiana: A man was
backing his car out of a Walmart parking spot when he was narrowly missed by
two women in another car. An argument
ensued, then one of the women pulled
out a gun and shot several rounds into the man's car.
April 6, 2012 --
Austin, Texas: Brandon Montgomery
Daniel, age 24, was reported as being intoxicated in Walmart. Police officer Jaime Padron responded. When Padron approached Daniel, they got into
a fight, then Daniel pulled
out a gun and shot Officer Padron dead at point-blank range. Two Walmart employees then tackled Daniel and
held him until more officers arrived.
Padron was the father of two children.
April 2, 2012 --
McAllen, Texas: 25-year-old Aaron
Solorzano was shoplifting a grocery cart full of merchandise when two employees
tried to stop him. He turned and shot
one of them in the hand, then cut the other employee in the hand. He escaped and may have fled to Mexico.
April 2, 2012 --
Thomasville, Florida: 17-year-old
Johnathan Brown shot
and robbed a man, Mark Sbarra, multiple times in the parking lot of Walmart,
then stole a van. While fleeing, he
crashed the van. Brown was wanted on a
number of other crimes, including another shooting. He was captured and confessed to the crime.
March 27, 2012 --
Avon, Massachusetts: A marijuana
purchase went bad between two groups of people in the Walmart parking lot. Shots
were fired by both groups. One of
them, 18-year-old Keenan Hart of Brockton, was injured.
March 7, 2012 --
Columbus, Ohio: Two men were
suspected of shoplifting at a Walmart and were in a getaway car driven by a
woman. Officers attempted to stop them,
then the woman rammed her car into the police cruiser and ran over the foot of
one of the officers. The
officer opened fire, wounding the woman in the leg. She continued to drive off, but was caught
when stuck in traffic.
February 22, 2012 --
Dinwiddie, Virginia: 33-year-old
Melvin D. Taylor, Jr. "just didn't seem together" the day he showed
up for his job at a Walmart distribution center. After his lunch break, he walked to the back
of the building and opened
fire, injuring 40-year-old Wynette Starks, a manager at the facility, in
the leg. He then exited the building,
where police were arriving, and had a shoot-out with them. Taylor then committed suicide.
February 21, 2012 -- Jackson, Mississippi: Two men, Thomas Wansley and Jeremiah Wilson, had a dispute. Wansley pulled up in his car next to Wilson's car and opened fire despite other shoppers nearby. Wilson was struck three times. An off-duty police officer responded. Wansley pointed his gun at the officer, and the officer fired but missed. Wansley then surrendered.
February 2, 2012 -- Albuquerque, New Mexico: An argument broke out inside a Walmart store and spilled out into the parking lot. There, one man was shot in the stomach. The victim was armed, as well, and police say it was likely a gang-related shooting.
February 2, 2012 -- Albuquerque, New Mexico: An argument broke out inside a Walmart store and spilled out into the parking lot. There, one man was shot in the stomach. The victim was armed, as well, and police say it was likely a gang-related shooting.
January 23, 2012 --
Port Orchard, Washington: Three
police officers responded to a suspicious person report at the local Walmart. When they arrived, they confronted a man and
a teen girl. The man, 31-year-old
Anthony A. Martinez, then ran from the officers and opened
fire on them, hitting two of the officers and wounding them. The third officer then shot and hit Martinez
as well as the girl. Both Martinez and
the girl died.
January 9, 2012 -- Sheboygan,
Wisconsin: Four young men were in
the parking lot of Walmart when a fifth man fired a gun at them. One of the victims died, another was
critically injured.
January 2, 2012 --
Modesto, California: Two groups got
into an argument in a Walmart parking lot.
Shots were fired. Luckily no one was
hurt. One person involved ran into the
Walmart and was found to have legally-obtained ammunition on him, which he had
purchased there.
ADDENDUM (11/3/12): According to an article, two assault rifles were stolen from a Summerville, South Carolina Walmart, and another two assault rifles were stolen from a Walterville, South Carolina Walmart.
ADDENDUM (11/3/12): According to an article, two assault rifles were stolen from a Summerville, South Carolina Walmart, and another two assault rifles were stolen from a Walterville, South Carolina Walmart.
