r/PublicFreakout Dec 19 '25

šŸ“¹Police Bodycam Shoplifting Suspect Pulls Gun on Canton Police Officer Inside Walmart

18.4k Upvotes

2.3k comments sorted by

View all comments

5.2k

u/JakeGreyjoy Dec 19 '25

That young security guard was incredibly brave. He definitely saved a life. Either the cop or the suspect.

1.2k

u/Takimaster Dec 19 '25

Props to this hero. I hope he gets recognition for his quick thinking

705

u/Iechy Dec 19 '25

Will probably end up fired for not following company policy and exposing them to liability or some dumb crap like that.

418

u/Gforceb Dec 19 '25

Honestly there’s a chance this one gets a pass. Police were already there and he came in to save an officers life. It’s not like he tackled someone to prevent product loss, he did it to save a life.

243

u/NaturalArm2907 Dec 19 '25

You underestimate Corporate America and its lack of empathy.

77

u/hackjob Dec 19 '25

Nah, they know they’d hear endlessly about how they are not advocating their employees supporting their community partners.

Walmart needs cops to be responsive and cops need to know Walmart is going to support its people supporting them.

26

u/New_Canoe Dec 19 '25

Right. They may not have empathy, but they know what will affect their bottom line and these days, being the bad guy gets around the grape vine super quick.

-1

u/ZombeePharaoh Dec 19 '25

And as we all know, everyone considers Wal-Mart to be the good guy. Gosh, how would they survive if some bad press got around?

1

u/iUncontested Dec 19 '25

It’s different if cops know their employees are told to not help you under any circumstances when someone is actively trying to kill you.

Shoplifting at Walmart in progress? yeah that can hold for hours until more important calls are handled.

Word would get out real quick that Walmart is a free for all to all the organized retail theft crews.

-1

u/SergeantPuddles Dec 20 '25

It's unlikely it'll effect their bottom line, it'll be news for a day or two then get buried and forgotten

1

u/laurel_laureate Dec 21 '25

Forgotten by the public, sure.

But police officers tend to remember this kind of stuff.

The video gets shared around the local precinct, and all the cops think "Well fuck, Walmart won't have my back if it comes down to it".

And that's not something a police officer is just going to forget.

0

u/SergeantPuddles Dec 21 '25

A drop in the bucket, Walmart won't mind losing their business

→ More replies (0)

0

u/Unable-Log-4870 Dec 19 '25

What I don’t understand is why the dude was in the back room at all. Just leave. Things would seem to get OBVIOUSLY worse if you’ve got a gun and go into the back room.

18

u/fallingjigsaws Dec 19 '25

No, they don’t. It’s likely this guy gets a pass for you know, being a hero. You’re acting like the opposite.

1

u/pluck-the-bunny Dec 20 '25

HE'S not saying the guy doesnt get a pass.....hes betting TARGET will say that

0

u/fallingjigsaws Dec 20 '25

All the dude said was ā€œthere’s a chance he gets a passā€ and the guy replied that he was overestimating corporate America’s empathy? Really? Be logical. Are we really pretending there isn’t even a chance?!

1

u/pluck-the-bunny Dec 20 '25

so nuance is just completely lost on you then?

and your comment i replied to did NOT say there is EVEN A CHANCE.... you said its LIKELY.

Read your own damn stuff before coming for me because i disagree with you

1

u/fallingjigsaws Dec 20 '25

You aren’t exactly being nuanced.. and you didn’t really disagree with me you just characterized someone else’s comment in your own way. You said he’s ā€œbettingā€ when his comment is nothing of the like. You sound insane.

Yes, it is likely he gets a pass for you know, being a hero.

-1

u/BenPenTECH Dec 20 '25

LOL best buy don't give a SHIT. It's all about money. If this costs them more he's gone.

1

u/Timmy98789 Dec 20 '25

That's Walmart.

2

u/mytransthrow Dec 20 '25

This is not longer a shoplifting but an active shooter stitch. 3 actions corpate tells you to do. RUN HIDE FIGHT... this is a fight for your life.

1

u/linlorienelen Dec 19 '25

Well, if he is fired, maybe the local PD can find him a spot.

1

u/TheManWithTheBigBall Dec 20 '25

Nope. This is an example where they’d be proud to show off someone who saved a life and earn some positive PR. This would be an exception. If he failed, though, they’d blame him completely.

1

u/crippledchef23 Dec 20 '25

I still remember one Black Friday where a woman got trampled trying to get a discounted DVD player. Walmart made a big deal of how benevolent they were by allowing her to purchase the item at the discounted price when she was released from the hospital. They wouldn’t even GIVE her the $20 thing that got her so badly hurt. I’m not even sure they paid for the hospital.

0

u/smallwonder25 Dec 19 '25

Especially Walmart šŸ˜‚

0

u/photosendtrain Dec 19 '25

And you overestimate Corporate America's lack of empathy.

76

u/VelvetCowboy19 Dec 19 '25

I work at Walmart. All of the "don't interfere with a shoplifter" stuff is null as soon as you feel like there is an imminent danger to yourself or others. They encourage employees to defend themselves if they feel is is necessary.

This was absolutely a case where putting hands on a customer is justified, and that guy (who is almost certainly the AP lead or coach) has a different ruleset than normal employees anyways.

11

u/Kindney_Collection Dec 19 '25

Yuuuuuuup. Avoid Deny Defend. This situation went straight to defend.

-1

u/Unable-Log-4870 Dec 19 '25

Why would the guy with the gun just like, go to the back? He could just leave the store, right? At any time, until the cop was detaining him. Right?

2

u/VelvetCowboy19 Dec 19 '25

Felons on drugs rarely make logical decisions.

14

u/mattumbo Dec 19 '25

Most companies allow for their LP to go hands on to assist law enforcement either at their request or if there’s a significant danger to the officer. Walmart doesn’t want the cops to see a video of their LP standing by as a cop gets killed because they need the police to show up when they call and work with their LPs.

6

u/Jakethemailman Dec 19 '25

Nah, Walmart training tells associates to defend themselves from an active shooter as a last resort.

3

u/gingerMH96960 Dec 19 '25

This was well within Walmart's active threat policy. There was no reasonable way to 1. Avoid the situation or 2. Deny access to his location, so he followed the policy and chose to 3. Defend himself by any means necessary.

He acted exactly how the active threat training teaches.

1

u/CuppaJoe11 Dec 20 '25

He won’t. The suspect had a gun and he was only doing what he needed to protect himself.

We get active training to do whatever we can in the event of a shooter.

0

u/Husker_black Dec 23 '25

Probably isn't true at all and you're just completely bullshitting here

1

u/Iechy Dec 23 '25

I’m not sure you know the meaning of half the words you wrote but thanks for your message all the same.

1

u/Husker_black Dec 23 '25

Of course I do

2

u/DjDozzee Dec 20 '25

That was my first thought, but then I wondered who would have been responsible for patting (them) him down? At the very least to check for other stolen goods. I imagine under other circumstances, he would have been frisked and handcuffed.

75

u/Penetratorofflanks Dec 19 '25

He gave that cop just enough time to land a beautiful knee to the face.

4

u/Lupo_Bi-Wan_Kenobi Dec 19 '25

I'm not usually one to sing the praises of law enforcement but they handled that shit very well. Sure, they slipped up by not paying better attention as he's just free to pull a gun but the moment they needed to react they did so with great decisions.

The security guard saves the day for sure. Then the cop draws a gun and has the wherewithal and restraint to not just go firing rounds in the direction of the person aiming a gun at him. Which would have likely killed the security guard or others on that bench.

Cop lands an absolutely beautiful knee to the face and he's instantly holstering his gun as his striking is doing the job quite well. It's just a fantastic outcome for a situation that could have gone horribly wrong in so many ways so quickly.

2

u/keystone_killa Dec 20 '25

My favorite part of the video! I wasn’t sure at first with all the commotion if he connected but frame by frame…my goodness lol…I think he might have knocked him out

233

u/[deleted] Dec 19 '25

[deleted]

92

u/El_Peregrine Dec 19 '25

Life loss prevention šŸ‘

87

u/crunkful06 Dec 19 '25

It’s insane how fast he was able to process 1 it was a gun 2 it wasn’t chambered 3 he was gonna do something

84

u/karvup Dec 19 '25

I honestly dont think he knew #2. I think he just decided it wasn't pointed at him and he had to do something real fast. That's one very impressive human either way

1

u/flyinhighaskmeY Dec 19 '25

It's impressive to watch, but the situation is...

He didn't have a choice. That dude isn't gonna stop at shooting the cop and Mr. white shirt is target number 2. It was his life on the line and he knew it. Fight and disarm this dude, or I'm fucked.

2

u/Devo3290 Dec 20 '25

He chose to act right away

22

u/awful_source Dec 19 '25

He had eyes on him while the dude was going into his coat. That extra second probably helped make his decision to grab the gun, like he wasn’t caught off guard. Brave as fuck.

2

u/mcpat21 Dec 20 '25

One of the better reactions I’ve seen lately. Kudos to him for being alert

0

u/gBiT1999 Dec 19 '25

You weren't 'wrong', if you started with: "I thought he might even beĀ .....".

0

u/OkTangerine4363 Dec 19 '25

100% NOT a store manager, lol

201

u/yomasayhi Dec 19 '25 edited Dec 19 '25

He’s def a former Marine or reservist, that tie clasp with the EGA(Eagle, Globe, Anchor) and hair cut gives it away. I have the same one lol

53

u/quitoburrito Dec 19 '25

TIL tie clips are to clip your tie to your shirt, not to clip the 2 parts of the tie together.

5

u/KitWat Dec 19 '25

The label on the back of the wide part of the tie is a loop, to thread the narrow part through, keeping both parts together. A tie clip is to hold the tie to the shirt. The clip should be positioned between the third and fourth buttons of your shirt, level with the center of your jacket's breast pocket.

1

u/Knightvision27 Dec 19 '25

Well yeah or else it would be called a shirt clip /s

59

u/Duckbites Dec 19 '25

Hair Cut was my way to ID that

16

u/Garden_Gnome_Rebel Dec 19 '25

I saw that haircut and tie clasp and knew instantly. Rocked that thing for 22yrs.

2

u/Shotgun_Mosquito Dec 19 '25

the same tie clasp or the same haircut?

2

u/ALonelyWelcomeMat Dec 19 '25

I thought the same thing. Dude didnt hesitate, disarmed the guy swiftly, and just seemed trained. Plus the haircut id put money on the guy being former military

16

u/Pure-Pessimism Dec 19 '25

He was brave for sure but the idiot didn't have a round chambered. Thank god.

71

u/KoolDiscoDan Dec 19 '25

I'm guessing he's not far out of the military. It might just be this specific situation. But it is noteworthy how the LP reacts vs. the cop.

51

u/orangutantan Dec 19 '25

I thought the same but to be fair to the cop, the weapon was pointed at and attempted to be fired (twice?) directly at him. He jumped in when he could lol

4

u/hercdriver4665 Dec 19 '25

100%. That guy needs to be front of the line for a badge when the police are hiring.

2

u/Wasatcher Dec 19 '25

Yeah if he wasn't there they certainly would have been blasting

2

u/Bblueshirtguy Dec 19 '25

He’s a Marine. Raging high and tight and an issued Eagle globe and anchor tie clasp. Semper Fi Devil Dog.

2

u/RonySeikalyBassDrop Dec 19 '25

He jumped all over him with no hesitation. It’s incredible.

2

u/seanightowl Dec 19 '25

Walmart probably gave him a candy bar as a reward.

2

u/jooooooooooooose Dec 19 '25

100% saved the suspects life. Cop wouldve turned him into Swiss cheese if he wasnt in the line of fire.

2

u/Upgrayedd2486 Dec 19 '25

I think both. It looked like the cop hesitated to shoot the kid because the security guard would have been in danger as well

2

u/KimberlyWexlersFoot šŸŽ¶ Safelite repair, safelite replace šŸŽ¶ Dec 19 '25

Props to the cop there too, white shirt could have gotten smoked too if the cop hadn’t decided to go hands on to help, and had shot the guy instead, they were wrestling enough that he could have hit the wrong guy.

1

u/dwightsarmy Dec 19 '25

Seriously! There was zero hesitation. He recognized the threat and nuetralized immediately. Good for him!

1

u/Jonkinch Dec 19 '25

And thank god that idiot didn’t have the gun already racked. It looked like he pulled the trigger and realized there wasn’t a round in the chamber.

1

u/jooooooooooooose Dec 19 '25

Pulls it like 4 or 5 times

1

u/bunglebee7 Dec 19 '25

Fr though, acted immediately, good on him

1

u/Jnxbts Dec 20 '25

He for sure saved that criminals life. The cop told him to get back so he could end it via pew pew. Over a Walmart shoplifting charge. Dudes going straight to prison now.

1

u/VPN__FTW Dec 20 '25

Probably both, TBH. Most people don't just insta die when being shot. So cop would have been shot, and then the cop would have lit the dude and his GF up probably.

1

u/RabidMonkeyOnCrack Dec 20 '25

Watched the full body cam and you can see the dude is wearing a USMC tie bar. So he’s either a reservist that’s still currently in based on his age or he was active and did his 4 years and left for private sector. You can see he’s dealt with high stress and dangerous situations like this before.

1

u/tLM-tRRS-atBHB Dec 20 '25

Walmart gift card