‘I was never so scared in my life’: Commissioner describes scene in Walmart shooting
This story was updated on Friday, March 12, 2021:
Mecklenburg County Commissioner Vilma Leake was next in the checkout line at a Walmart in southwest Charlotte when she heard a gunshot and froze.
It was around 7 p.m. on Monday, and the store on South Tryon Street was full of people, Leake said. Suddenly, she heard people say to get out of the store. Shoppers panicked and began to run or look for their children, Leake said.
Leake did not want to leave the store through the front door. Someone had said the shooting had taken place behind them, and she was afraid the shooter would spot her.
“I was never so scared in my life,” Leake said.
She ran to the side and hid behind a desk at the bank inside the store. The couple that had been in line with Leake also sought cover with her, she said.
They waited there for around five minutes, which she said felt like an eternity.
Then around a dozen police officers came in and told everyone to evacuate. In the parking lot, there were at least a hundred shoppers and employees, Leake said.
Leake had gone to the Walmart to buy food and ice cream. In the end, she left with neither.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg police said officers responded to reports of a shooting at the store around 7:20 p.m. Monday. At a news conference on Tuesday, Capt. Brian Sanders of CMPD’s Steele Creek Division said police found evidence that a single shot was fired and one person was injured.
A preliminary investigation indicates that the suspect was in the store for less than two minutes, Sanders said. During that time, the man — who was wearing jeans and a black top — had “a random encounter” with a woman, then a shot was fired in one of the main aisles, Sanders said.
“It’s obvious the two involved in the shooting ... clearly had an exchange,” he said. “Those two did know each other.”
Surveillance footage indicates that the two just happened to be in the store at the same time, he said.
“I don’t believe one sought out the other,” Sanders said.
On Friday, police said 21-year-old Michael Frost voluntarily turned himself in to the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office. He was charged with carrying a concealed weapon.
Detectives exhausted all available leads to identify any other parties who may have been involved, CMPD said in a news release.
Leake, who represents District 2, which includes parts of west Charlotte, said the experience has left her more attuned to what violence is like for her community.
“It’s so realistic now to me, more so than it’s ever been,” she said. “ ... It’s unacceptable.”
Police encourage anyone with information about the incident to contact Crime Stoppers at 704-334-1600.
This story was originally published March 9, 2021 at 3:17 PM.
