A City Gear employee is off the job after Memphis Police said he shot a customer at the chain’s Whitehaven store Saturday night
The troubled retailer has seen break-in after break-in at its stores around the city, but this violent incident didn’t happen because of a burglary.
According to investigators, it started with an argument over the chain’s return policy.
FOX13 reported last week that City Gear stores are now using canines to prevent smash and grab burglaries, but lethal force appears to be against company policy.
Surveillance footage from a nearby business shows the victim crawl out of the store moments after the shooting.
City Gear shoppers FOX13 spoke to were shocked to learn about the incident.
The store was open Monday and appeared to be running smoothly, even with the plywood-constructed storefront built in response to numerous burglaries.
“It’s bad, it’s out of hand, but this is the life we are living,” Danesha Johnson, who did her holiday shopping at the store, said.
FOX13 spotted a damage restoration crew arriving to clean up and a handyman installing new security cameras. A relatively new addition was also at the store on Elvis Presley Monday: an armed guard with a security canine.
That new security measure, though, did not prevent Saturday’s shooting.
According to a police report, a customer came into the store to try and get a refund on a pair of shoes. An employee told the customer City Gear doesn’t do refunds and he allegedly threatened to have someone come to the store and beat her up.
Investigators said that’s when a loss prevention employee got involved and the customer told him, “I will kill you. I don’t care about that gun.”
That’s when the employee allegedly opened fire.
“You’ve got to do what you’ve got to do to protect yourself,” Johnson said. “By any means.”
Surveillance video shows a man running out of the store moments after the shooting to flag down a security car. Within minutes, police and an ambulance arrive.
Investigators said they found 11 spent shell casings. The customer was shot four times and was taken to Regional One with serious injuries.
A Hibbett/City Gear spokesperson addressed the incident Monday and told FOX13 the employee was fired the statement:
“We can confirm that Saturday night, at closing time there was a shooting incident involving an employee and another individual at the City Gear, located at 4070 Elvis Presley Blvd in the Whitehaven Plaza Shopping Center in Memphis. The employee has since been terminated.
We are working closely with the Memphis Police Department as they investigate this incident and cannot comment further on any details.
Safety is always our top priority and we do not condone violence.
We encourage anyone with information about this incident to contact the Memphis Police Department.”
Some customers question whether the employee deserved to be fired over what sounded like self defense.
“No, I don’t think that was right because he has to protect himself,” Johnson said. “He didn’t know what was on this man’s mind and he’s got a life just like he’s got a life, so I don’t think that was right.”
Court records show neither of the men were charged or arrested.
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