An alleged shoplifter died outside a Lithonia, Ga., Walmart on Sunday after a confrontation with two of the store’s employees and a contract security guard
The man was suspected of stealing two DVD players over the Black Friday weekend, but the two electronics seem to have cost him his life.
As the suspect – whose identity still has not been released – exited the Walmart with the two unpaid DVDs two store employees grabbed the man before a security guard reportedly tackled him.
According to DeKalb Country officers, the man was unresponsive once they arrived although it wasn’t noticed until they put handcuffs on the man. That’s when they noticed blood coming from the middle aged man’s nose and mouth.
The suspect was immediately rushed to DeKalb Medical-Hillandale Hospital, but it was already too late. Upon arrival he was pronounced dead.
Both employees are currently on paid suspension, but the contract security guard won’t be returning to the superstore any time soon.
According to Walmart’s spokesperson Dianna Gee the security officer “will no longer be providing services to us.”
Gee also pointed out how sorry the company is that something like this happened and assured everyone that the superstore is working as hard as they can to find out if anyone was at fault for the man’s death.
“This is truly a sad situation,” said Gee in a statement to ABC News. “We don’t know all of the facts right now. We’re in the process of working with law enforcement to determine all of the facts and cooperating and providing any information we have to assist in the investigation.”
She also explained that Walmart employees are trained to not put any customer, or themselves, in harms way over merchandise.
“Our associates are trained that the safety of our customers and our associates is our first priority,” she continued. “No amount of merchandise is worth someone’s life. Associates are trained to disengage from situations that would put themselves or others at risk. That being said, this is still an active investigation and we’re working with police to provide any assistance.”
Walmart has made several efforts to make the Black Friday a safer shopping experience after a slew of deaths were involved with the shopping holiday during previous years and even opened their doors Thursday night to prevent people getting trampled when their doors opened Friday morning.
