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| Scene of Belmont Walmart shooting (source) |
Matthew Lee Ollis met two men, half-brothers, Malik Tymel Moore and Wesley Perkins III, with the intention of selling them a diamond ring as arranged on Craigslist, in the parking lot of a Walmart store in Belmont, North Carolina.
But the brothers snatched the ring and tried to drive away.
Ollis then opened fire with a pistol, firing many shots and causing shoppers to flee in panic. The robbers, too, fled their vehicle. Police arrived, and two men were found and taken into custody. The third, Moore, escaped.
From an article:
That man, Matthew Lee Ollis, told police that Malik Tymel Moore and his half-brother, Wesley Perkins III, snatched the ring and drove off in their Jeep.
Ollis told police he fired shots at the fleeing Jeep and flattened one of the tires.
“I heard ta-ta-ta-ta, and I said, ‘What in the world is that?’ All of a sudden I saw people ducking and jumping under their cars and I thought, oh dear God, oh dear God," said one shopper who witnessed the confrontation.
The shooter was questioned for several hours at the police station, and now faces several charges for discharging his gun in public. Police recovered two weapons at the scene.
He was escorted in handcuffs to jail, but told NBC Charlotte he was shooting at the men to protect himself and his possessions. Ollis is charged with discharging a firearm into an occupied vehicle. He was given a $100,000 secured bond.Though Ollis was victimized in the robbery, he was wrong to fire his gun. His own father and Chief of police agree:
"And he was in the wrong for firing shots and they were in the wrong also for trying to rip someone off when they should have been trying to make an honest living for themselves."
Ollis says his son was the shooter.
"And he should never been trying to fire bullets towards an occupied building."
Chief Franklin said Matthew Ollis will face charges.
"You can't just pull a gun out and shoot at someone, especially in the parking lot of Walmart" Chief Franklin said.
"The people who attempted to take the ring from him were running away as he was shooting at them. He was not really in danger plus the parking lot of Walmart was covered. One of the bullets could easily have shot an innocent bystander."Walmart. Save money. Die faster.
