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

[Rose Siding]

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.

[951-Riverside]

1. This was an Off Duty Police Thug using his own weapon

Most stores have a strict no weapons policy, they also tell loss prevention not to confront thieves once they leave the store or simply just avoid hiring off duty out of uniform meat heads to avoid this very thing.

If stores hired off duty cops exclusively you'd see this happening a lot more often.

[Capt. Obvious]

2. A new hero for Fox News to champion

Has a gofund been set up for the security guard?

[Gormy Cuss]

3. Shopkeeper's privilege

run amok.

Shooting at a car full of shoplifters? His ass should be in jail for that reason alone, never mind that he actually KILLED one of the women.

[Louisiana1976]

29. Exactly. Shoplifting isn't a crime worthy of execution.

[WI_DEM]

4. how the heck can somebody get away with shooting a shoplifter who is fleeing

get the license # a discription of the car--but to shoot somebody--I hope that "security officer" was charged with murder.

[Rose Siding]

5. He wasn't charged as far as I can tell

Searches don't reveal any follow up at all.

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

6. what could anyone

steal from a Walmart, or any store really, that would justify shooting them to prevent their escape?

[Lee-Lee]

7. And now for the rest of the story

http://www.khou.com/story/news/2014/07/22/11901352/

One of the women struck the officer with her purse, the officer opened the car door and ordered them to stop, instead they put the car in drive and knocked the officer over.

Stupid to shoplift. Even far, far more stupid to escalate it when you are caught eventually to the level of using you car as a weapon when caught and ordered by a uniformed police officer to stop- and yes when your escape attempt involves your vehicle knocking someone over, that is assault with that vehicle.


Moral of the story- don't make getting caught for something stupid a whole lot worse by doing even more stupid stuff when you get caught.

[951-Riverside]

11. "the officer opened the car door and ordered them to stop"

This predator was setting himself up for the kill.

[IMG][/IMG]

These mentally ill thugs like putting themselves in perceived danger so they can kill people including bystanders. Their favorite thing is throwing themselves in front of someone's car.

[Gormy Cuss]

13. Driving away is not using a car as a weapon, no matter what LEOs are taught these days.

And hitting a security guard with a purse while trying to flee after shoplifting is not a capital offense.

We really, truly, need to overhaul police training to end this notion that a cop can shoot on the slightest provocation.

[Lee-Lee]

14. Driving away itself isn't. If that act knocks a person down

then yes, it is assault using the car as a weapon.

You seem to not comprehend the difference between simply fleeing an officer ( also a very stupid choice that will lead to more officers pursuing in cars and put them and other motorists at risk) and doing so in a way that causes the officer or anyone else harm, that doubles down on the poor decision matrix.

If an officer has your car door open and is reaching to remove you, your keys or anything else- and in this case the officer was 100% justified to do so (maybe not the best choice, but still fully legally justified)- if you put the car in gear and drive off causing the car to push him down it is a form of assault, pure and simple, just the same as it they were mad at a kid riding a tricycle behind them and put the car in gear and pushed the kid out of their path.

[ecstatic]

19. Walmart has theft insurance. If the women are

fleeing and can't be safely detained, let it go, ffs! This is crazy!

[951-Riverside]

20. That's turning into "The body can be used as a weapon"

These predators hiding behind the badge need to be removed from society and locked away, they are just looking for any reason to kill someone while their little groupies/badge bunnies get off on seeing people get hurt.

What a sick culture.

GET OFF MY STREETS!!!!!!!!!!! GET OUT OF MY FACE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU SICK PREDATOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[BillZBubb]

33. That's just BS. Cops always use the lie that the car was a weapon.

If the car did knock him down, he survived. It wasn't an attempt to run him over. There was ZERO excuse to open fire.

I know you police apologists love to pull these flimsy excuses out of the air. That allows you to rationalize the total thuggery of the abuse of power and use of deadly force.

[BklnDem75]

24. Don't you mean the cop's version of events?

In the link you provided:

'Campbell chased Frey around the parking lot. She got in a car with the other suspects and two children. Campbell opened the door and commanded them to stop, but the car was placed in drive and moved forward, investigators said.

I think it knocked him off balance and, in fear of his life and being ran over, he discharged his weapon at that point, said Thomas Gilliland, Harris County Sheriff s Office.'

I think? Was he in front of the car in fear of getting ran over, or was he at the side of the car, opening the door? Why should we believe secondhand information?

[morningfog]

26. I opened this thread fully expecting to find someone practicing the old cop apologia.

I was right. There are the reliable defendants of authority in every murder by cop thread.

[Louisiana1976]

31. True.

[BklnDem75]

32. No surprises here...

Capital punishment for 'alleged' petty theft if perfectly acceptable to some. One only needs notice this: Witness statements - more facts needed. Cop statements - absolute truth.

[grassrox]

42. ...You Told A Story, Now For Some Facts!

It was Tiasa Andrews, not Shelly Frey, who hit the rent-a-clown with her purse. It was the other lady (I forget her name, or Tiasa Andrews, NOT Shelly Frey) that was driving. Why then, was Shelly Frey the one he shot? Was he aiming at the driver? Was he just firing recklessly into a vehicle with babies in it?

He was standing between the open door and the car when they started to back out of the parking space, but didn't shoot until the vehicle was "fleeing the scene" according to the early reports of this murder...before attorneys were scripting press releases.

A man, cop or not, is not in fear of his life by getting hit with a purse. A woman, who is NOT operating a vehicle (I.e., not behind the wheel,) intrinsically can not be at that instant threatening someone's life by running over them!


There's a reason 99% of retailers have policies not to pursue shoplifters. It's because they are held liable for for any assault or damage or* injury against the alleged. That means its their fault for using excessive force.


Shelly Frey didn't commit any alleged felonies. If there's anyone that thinks we should be able to murder folks for shoplifting, maybe they would be better suited by joining up with Isis.

**B.t.w., Im a God fearing, gun carrying American. If I would have shot and killed somebody pulling out of my driveway for stealing some of my baby's diapers is be in jail for a long, long time...and rightfully so.

[riverwalker]

8. nothing happened

cop claims she "hit him with her purse" (WTF? like Ruth Buzzi?), and feared he would be "run over".

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2245074/Walmart-security-guard-shoots-shoplifting-mother-dead-parking-lot-tries-escape-young-children.html

http://www.mommyish.com/2012/12/10/shelly-frey-walmart-shoplifting/

family filed a wrongful death suit, but I couldn't find any resolution.

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Shoplifter-s-family-sues-Wal-Mart-deputy-4337438.php

[samsingh]

28. i no longer believe cops. period. and are they such wimps that a purse bowls them over?

[Thinkingabout]

9. Charges may depend on the location. In Texas you can fire a weapon after nightfall if

A person is stealing. It may be a harsh sentence for a shop lifter which is probably not considered when in the commission of a crime. BTW, the person fleeing does not have to be on the property at the time of the firing a weapon.

[TiredOfNo]

10. Let me guess!

I haven't read the article but I would venture that he was white and she was black......

[GeorgeGist]

12. Thread Win.

[Lee-Lee]

15. Pretty racist to assume a shoplifter is black

[TiredOfNo]

16. You missed my point...

If the thief had been white, or the cop had been black, she would not have been shot so readily.....

[Rose Siding]

22. The cop was black

[Lee-Lee]

25. Was that the sound of somebodies preconceived notions getting disturbed?

[justiceischeap]

17. Safe bet to assume a cop will shoot a black person

Before shooting a white person.

[morningfog]

27. What is racist is the predictability of the race that cops kill.

Are you a cop?

[BillZBubb]

35. Baloney. It is an understanding of the racism of cops and the legal system.

If the woman had been white, much more would have come out of this case than letting another killer cop go free.

[BuelahWitch]

18. This story is almost 2 years old...

Published: 11:09 EST, 8 December 2012 | Updated: 23:55 EST, 8 December 2012

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2245074/Walmart-security-guard-shoots-shoplifting-mother-dead-parking-lot-tries-escape-young-children.html#ixzz3BiPV7GAo

[Rose Siding]

21. Yes, I noted that in the op

[NCTraveler]

23. Two stupid people collide, one has a gun.

Unfortunately this is the outcome. Why would a Walmart security guy have a gun?

[BuelahWitch]

30. He was an off-duty police officer

But yeah, pretty scary.

[Rose Siding]

34. Employed by WM

Why would they let any employee, even an off duty cop to use deadly force?

[BillZBubb]

36. This is on WM. There is no way they should allow employees to use deadly force.

With the exception of an active shooter incident. For theft, they should only be allowed to get as much evidence as possible and let the police department handle the follow up.

[Lee-Lee]

38. He didn't use deadly force for theft

He used deadly force in response to the use of deadly force against him, in the form of an automobile.

I don't get why that is so hard to grasp for so many people. Nobody got shot for shoplifting. She got shot for attempting to flee an attempt at arrest by a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest in a manner that put his life in jeopardy and knocked him over with the vehicle.

If you strike somebody with your vehicle in an attempt to flee arrest, be it the front bumber, the door or the mirror, you just greatly escalated the crime. You also showed your intention to turn the arrest attempt into a vehicle chase putting more lives at risk.

[BillZBubb]

39. Your cop apologist nonsense is sickening.

There was no "deadly force" against him. The car didn't run over him or attempt to do that. All he had to do was get the license number and call it in. The cops could easily find the owner of the car and make an arrest.

The irresponsible cop escalated what should have been a simple routine incident into a killing. You can make up all the lame excuses in the world, but that is what it was.

[Lee-Lee]

40. The cop didn't escalate it

She did.

First, she shoplifted.

She made the attempt to flee when a uniformed officer told her to stop- escalation.

Her companion made the choice to assault a law enforcement officer by hitting him with a purse- escalation.

She got into her car and attempted to escape by vehicle when told to- escalation from a foot chase to a vehicle evasion.

She made the choice to put the car in gear and drive away when the officer had opened the door and was ordering her out, knocking him over with the vehicle- escalation.

One party escalated it at every step by increasing the severity of laws broken, while the other party was responding in a fully lawful manner doing his job.

Yeah, there was lots of escalation- but the people here who can't see it because they always blame cops are of the same bigoted mindset of people who think every time a black person is involved the black person must be guilty, regardless of facts.

[Initech]

37. This is war. The oligarchs are firing the first shots.

[edhopper]

41. I was so surprised

when I clicked on the link and saw that she was black.