PINEVILLE, NC – A Walmart employee was shot in the leg following a disagreement with a customer over unpaid chicken and dog food items, according to the Pineville police.
On January 28, around 6:30 p.m., Pineville police were called to a reported shooting at a Walmart store on Pineville-Matthews Road. Upon their arrival, officers found an employee with a gunshot wound to his leg. They learned that the dispute over a self-checkout transaction had sparked the violence.
Detectives from Pineville reported that the Walmart worker had noticed that certain merchandise – some chicken and dog food – was not scanned by the customer, Jonathan Alan Smith. When the employee confronted Smith, he subsequently scanned and paid for the dog food, but reportedly refused to do so for the chicken. This escalated into an argument, eventually turning into a physical altercation that was broken up by fellow employees.
However, the situation allegedly deteriorated further when Smith reentered the store wielding a gun, investigators said. Upon confronting a number of store employees, another skirmish ensued. In the struggle for control of the gun, which fell from Smith’s pocket, it discharged, striking one employee in the knee.
Smith was apprehended at the scene and charged with assault with a deadly weapon, along with other criminal charges. The injured employee received treatment for their wound and is projected to recover, according to law enforcement officials.