FBI arrest of drug-dealing gang member leads to fatal shooting at Maryland Sam's Club store

Occurred April 11, 2014.

(UPDATED -- See below)

FBI went to arrest Jameel Kareem Ofurum Harrison, 34, in the parking lot of a Sam's Club in Owings Mills, Maryland, for drug offenses.  Harrison was a gang member with a long rap sheet.

When Harrison attempted to run over the officers, they opened fire, hitting him 19 times and killing him.

An investigation cleared the FBI agents of wrongdoing.

From an article:

In the Owings Mills shooting, the agents from the FBI's Baltimore field office, along with other law enforcement personnel, were wearing vests that identified them as law enforcement. They got out of their cars, surrounded Harrison's car, and told him to raise his hands and get out of the car.

One officer pulled his Chevrolet Uplander minivan in front of Harrison's 2013 Infiniti FX37, boxing him in. The officer got out and walked up to the front of Harrison's car; with his weapon drawn, he identified himself as a police officer and ordered Harrison to get out of the car. Another agent walked up to Harrison's driver-side door, and others also approached the vehicle and repeated similar commands.

The report says Harrison started to drop his hands "and a short time after that, the vehicle was driving in reverse," striking the car behind him. ...

The report says Harrison "put the vehicle in reverse, accelerated past two witness vehicles, then struck a third witness vehicle. At that point the driver made a movement that placed three agents in fear of death or injury, causing them to discharge their weapons," according to the Baltimore County Police Department's investigative report, which was reviewed by the state's attorney's office.
Harrison was pronounced dead at the scene.

Walmart.  Save money.  Die faster.


UPDATE (9/21/14):  Click HERE for more information on Harrison's background and gang affiliation.

Gunman robs Walmart in North Carolina

Occurred June 6, 2014.


23-year-old Anthony Velasco entered a Walmart store in Greenville, North Carolina, went to the Money Center in the store, and demanded cash at gunpoint.  He fled, but was soon captured by police.

From an article:

At approximately 1:20 p.m. police received a report of the robbery, which took place at the Money Center in the front of the store. Velasco wielded a handgun while demanding cash from the employees. He fled the scene with an undisclosed amount of money.

Witnesses of the robbery were able to identify Velasco, the getaway vehicle and the tag number, leading police to the vehicle the same day. When signaled to pull over, the driver ignored Greenville Police leading them on a chase. The vehicle crashed into a cement pipe off County Home Rd., causing the car to catch on fire.

After attempting to flee the scene on foot, 23-year-old Velasco of Tull Road, who is a known Sureno-13 (SUR-13) gang member according to police, was arrested and taken into custody.

Walmart.  Save money.  Die faster.

Man wounded in apparent drug and gang shooting at California Walmart Neighborhood Market

Occurred June 7, 2014.

Scene of shooting at Visalia Walmart (source)

Police responded to a report of shots fired, at a Walmart Neighborhood Market in Visalia, California.  There they found a man who had been shot in the abdomen and wounded.  A man and a woman were taken into custody for the shooting.  It may have been gang- and drug-related.

From an article:

A Visalia man and his girlfriend were arrested Sunday in connection with the shooting at a grocery store parking that sent a man to the hospital Saturday night.

Joshua Lee Hickman, 29, and Necole Dalee Noriega, 32, were booked on allegations of attempted homicide, conspiracy, weapon possession and narcotic charges.

Police said officers responded to the parking lot of the Walmart Neighborhood Market on North Demaree Street for reports of shots fired. At the scene, officers located 32-year-old Anthony Garcia, who had been shot in the abdomen. He was taken to a hospital, where he was being treated for non-life threatening injuries.

Police said Garcia was shot in the belly after he left the store. The shots were fired from a vehicle, police said.

"He was targeted," said Sgt. Curtis Brown, gang suppression unit supervisor.

Walmart.  Save money.  Die faster.

Gang shooting at Texas Walmart wounds one young man

Occurred April 26, 2014.


A large group of rival gang members met for a fight in the parking lot of a Walmart store in Sugar Land, Texas.  That's when someone pulled out a handgun and fired multiple rounds.  One young man was wounded and taken to the hospital.

From an article:

On Saturday morning, just after 1 a.m., Sugar Land Police responded to a report of shots fired in the parking lot of the Walmart located at 345 State Highway 6, said Sugar Land Police spokesman Doug Adolph. He said, “Police learned that a group of 20-30 men in their late teens to early 20s met for a fight.

During the confrontation, several rounds from a pistol were fired.” After the shots were fired, the participants scattered. According to Adolph there was one gunshot victim that was taken to a local Sugar Land hospital by private auto.

According to law enforcement personnel, the victim was taken to Sugar Land Methodist Hospital by associates that had been at the shooting. Those officers reported that the parking lot incident was gang related and the gangs were from Alief and Missouri City.

The gunshot victim’s friends swarmed the Methodist Hospital emergency room trying to get their associate help. The unidentified victim reportedly suffered a gunshot wound in the torso, possibly injuring his lungs.

Adolph said the case remains under investigation and no arrests have been made.

Walmart.  Save money.  Die faster.

Shootout injured 3-year old girl in New Mexico Walmart parking lot

Occurred April 11, 2014.

Scene of shooting at Espanola Walmart (source)

(UPDATED -- See below)

Individuals in two cars, in the parking lot of a Walmart in Espanola, New Mexico, got into a conflict.  Shot were fired from both vehicles.  Stray bullets hit the Walmart store and also injured a 3-year old girl in the leg.

From an article:

A white Nissan Maxima pulled up and someone inside started shooting at the SUV.

At least one person in the explorer fired back and together the people in both cars fired off between five and six rounds.

Police say one of those bullets hit the Walmart window and another hit the three-year-old girl in the leg as she and her family were leaving the store.

She wasn’t badly injured and detectives say the girl’s father didn’t even know she had been hit until they got home.

They say no one else was hurt.

“We feel it’s an isolated incident. It may be gang related. We’re working diligently to apprehend the individuals responsible, said Detective Corporal Solomon Romero.

The girl has been released from the hospital.

Bullets don't know when to stop.

Walmart.  Save money.  Die faster.


UPDATE (4/18/14):  Two young men, ages 19 and 20, have been arrested for the shootout and wounding of the little girl.  The shooting was most likely gang-related and the culmination of years of dispute between the young men.  From an article:

Española Police said 20-year-old Mackie Roybal is the man behind the gunshot that injured a three-year-old girl caught in the crossfire. “We’re taking this very seriously and we’re not going to put up with this type of behavior within the City of Española,” said Detective Corporal Solomon Romero of the Española Police Department. 

Romero said Roybal and 19-year-old Dylan Vigil started shooting at each other from their vehicles last week in the Walmart parking lot. The little girl was in a shopping cart, leaving the store with her dad, when she was hit in the leg with a gunshot. 

She’s alright and back at home, but police said things could have been a lot worse. The car police say Vigil was driving that night is riddled with about six bullet holes along the drivers side, including one in the windshield. .... 

Police said Roybal even bragged about the shooting on Facebook, but then later deleted it. He’s charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, shooting at a vehicle, negligent use of a deadly weapon and tampering with evidence. Vigil is charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, shooting at a motor vehicle, tampering with evidence and negligent use of a deadly weapon.

.

Realistic-looking BB guns stolen by gang members from Mississippi Walmart

Occurred December 17, 2013.


Five boys, who may be gang members, entered a Walmart store in Holly Springs, Mississippi, and stole five realistic-looking BB guns. 

According to police, such guns are often used by gangs in the area to commit crimes, since they cannot easily be distinguished from real guns.

From an article:

"These boys went into Walmart and they stole ... It was five of these stolen and they all got one," said Holly Springs Police Chief William Hollowell.

Hollowell is concerned about teens and gangs using BB guns to commit crimes.

"It looks like a gun, but it's not a real gun ... The people in the store think it's a real gun," said Hollowell.

The guns look so similar that most consumers cannot tell what is real and what is fake.

"We keep taking these guns from kids. If there's an incident where somebody is shot over these things that would just be a terrible thing to happen," said Hollowell.

Volunteer high school football Coach Danny Warren said many of the kids play with them for a joke.

"Some people don't take it as a joke. It'd more considered dangerous. Parents need to stop and talk to them," he said....

Hollowell said he does not want to see anymore young men die or lives ruined.

"If a police officer has to shoot someone that could very well bed his career," said Hollowell.

Chief Hollowell asked the local Walmart to put the BB guns in the same cases with the real guns they have in stock.

Sounds like a good idea, but here's a better one:  stop selling them.

There is no good reason for BB and pellet guns to look real, and they are routinely used to commit crimes, threaten, or injure, including at Walmart stores.

Walmart.  Save money.  Die faster.

Drug-related shooting in Mississippi Walmart Parking Lot

Occurred September 5, 2013.


A shooting occurred in the parking lot of a Walmart in Meridian, Mississippi, between gang members, over a drug deal.  One man was wounded and taken to the hospital.

A relative of the victim spoke out, and brought information to the local police, but the police have refused to use the information to investigate, according to him.

From an article and news video:

The day of the shooting, he called the detective with information. He said the detective called him back the first time, but when he tried to continue to contact police as he acquired more detailed and accurate information, but the process became frustrating. 

"I tried to call the police department and talk to a detective. It's an automated system, and if you don't hit the right button, it'll hang up on you," he said. "I got upset and went to the police department." 

After a long wait, he said he was only able to speak to someone after saying a few choice words and getting up to leave. The next time he had more information on the shooter, his calls were never returned. He said to his knowledge, nothing has been done with the information he provided. 

"The only thing I didn't do was bring the gentleman down to the police department in my vehicle," said the relative. 

His relative says the victim was involved in gang-related activity, and the shooting occurred over a drug deal in the Highway 19 Walmart parking lot. He's concerned the police department is not giving the case much priority since it's a gang related crime, but he's worried if they don't future retaliation could hurt some other innocent bystander.

Walmart.  Save money.  Die faster.

Man shot and killed at Tucson Walmart Neighborhood Market

Occurred May 1, 2013.

Scene of deadly shooting at Tucson Walmart Neighborhood Market

25-year old Ricky Lomax was in the parking lot of a Tucson, Arizona Walmart Neighborhood Market when got into a conflict with at least two other men.  Lomax was unarmed, and was shot multiple times.

He made it through the front doors of the Walmart store, collapsed to the floor, and died.  The shooter sped away.

There may have been due to gang activity.

From an article and video:

Tucson Police received the call around 4 a.m., saying a 25-year-old man had been shot in the parking lot on the northeast corner of East Grant Road and North Alvernon Way.  

The victim has been identified as Ricky Lomax. Witnesses told police that Lomax was shot multiple times by one of several individuals with whom he was in an altercation with near the Walmart entrance. 

According to police, Lomax walked through the store entrance and collapsed on the floor. 

TPD officials say the shooting is not the result of a robbery, but could be gang related. 

The suspect left the scene in a white four-door vehicle. The investigation is ongoing.

(a related news article)

According to another article, the suspected shooter, who is being sought, is 27-year old Jeremy Shane Davis.

This is at least the second deadly shooting at a Tucson Walmart (see HERE, from May, 2012).

There was also an armed robbery at a Tucson Walmart in October 2012.

Walmart.  Save money.  Die faster.

Gang shooting in parking lot of Colorado Walmart

Occurred July 2, 2012.

In what appears to be a gang-related incident, a man shot another man in a Walmart parking lot in Greeley, Colorado.  The victim went inside the building, while the shooter fled police outside.  He holed up in an apartment briefly before being arrested.

From an article:

Police say a man was shot in the parking lot of a Greeley Walmart, located at 3103 23rd Avenue, just before 12:30 p.m. Monday.

The victim made his way inside the store, while the suspect took off on foot towards Evans.

Police tracked the suspect to an Evans apartment complex in the 2900 block of Skyline Drive where he barricaded himself inside one of the units, police said.

After a brief standoff with police, the suspect surrendered without incident. The victim's condition is not known. Police have not released the identity of the suspect.

Police say the shooting was gang related. 

Walmart.  Save money.  Die faster.

Man injured in gang shooting at Walmart in Albuquerque, New Mexico

Occurred February 2, 2012.

An argument broke out inside a Walmart store in Albuquerque, New Mexico, 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.

From an article:

Police said there was an altercation inside the store that spilled into the parking lot. 

Junior Beltran, 25, was shot in the stomach in the parking lot. He was listed in stable condition at University of New Mexico Hospital on Thursday night. 

"We had just walked in, and a minute later, people started running in and they kept saying that somebody was shooting out here," said witness Phil Jaramillo. 

Police said Beltran was not an innocent bystander. They said he and another man he was with were armed, as well. 

"It's gang activity without a doubt," said Rob Gibbs, of the Albuquerque Police Department. "There's some sort of gang activity occurring, and unfortunately that could happen any time at any part of the city." 

The 911 tapes from witnesses at the scene revealed that callers in and outside of Walmart were in disbelief of the situation. 

"I think somebody?s been shot," a 911 caller said. "There was a fight outside in the parking lot, because I see a man standing here bleeding." 

Police said Beltran has a criminal record, pleading no contest in 2008 to stolen car charges. According to police, Beltran is a member of the Southside gang, and he was shot by a member of a rival gang called the TCK.

Walmart.  Save money.  Die faster.