Law & Crime on another low reached in an American parking lot…
An armed Walgreens employee shot a pregnant woman he suspected of stealing lipstick seven times in a parking lot confrontation last year that prompted an emergency cesarean section to deliver the baby and lifelong health problems, a new lawsuit says.
Travonsha L. Ferguson, 25, was shot on April 12, 2023, at the Walgreens store at 2500 Gallatin Road in Nashville.
It happened when the employee, who didn’t identify himself, aggressively confronted, cursed and screamed at Ferguson and her friend about the alleged stolen merchandise, and Ferguson sprayed the employee with mace “in fear of imminent bodily harm to Baby Ferguson and herself,” court documents obtained by HuffPost said.
The shooting prompted an emergency cesarean section to deliver the baby prematurely. The boy survived, but the now 11-month-old has a heart defect, and his mother requires the use of a colostomy bag, court documents said.
The employee who shot her was terminated. He was not charged with a crime after he claimed self-defense, saying he didn’t know if Ferguson and her friend were armed and he feared for his safety and didn’t know if they were armed, police said in a news release.
“I would believe the situation of self-defense if one shot, but it’s impossible to shoot seven times with such accuracy if you’ve been maced — which he was not,” said L. Chris Stewart, Ferguson’s attorney, in a news conference, local CBS affiliate WTVF reported. “We believe it was sprayed at him or in the air when they were surprised — as any pregnant mother would do who gets surprised by somebody running up on them screaming slurs.”
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