A pregnant woman who was allegedly shoplifting and got shot by a store employee had to undergo an emergency C-section, police said in a Thursday press release.
Travonsha Ferguson, 24, who was seven months pregnant, was shot by Walgreens team leader Mitarius Boyd, 21, in the store parking lot shortly before 8pm on Wednesday.
Ferguson was treated at Vanderbilt Medical Center, where doctors performed a C-section. Her child was not injured in the shooting.
Both Ferguson and her newborn were in critical but stable condition, said police, according to WSMV.
The ordeal at the drug store on Gallatin Avenue in Nashville, Tennessee, began when a worker told Boyd that two women were stealing goods.
Boyd said he saw the women putting goods in a shopping cart as well as an over-the-shoulder bag, according to the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department.
Boyd used his cell phone to record the women leaving the store without paying. As the woman put the items in the trunk of their vehicle, Boyd approached them from behind, police said.
One of the women sprayed him with a mace, at which point Boyd took out a gun and started shooting, according to cops.
The women drove away and Boyd went back to the Walgreens and dialed 911.
Ferguson, who sustained several gunshot wounds, was driven to General Hospital by the other woman, who then left.
‘In this particular case, if you’re being if you were being maced, to pull out a firearm and shoot someone eight times, I mean, some could view that as excessive force and too much force or more force than was needed to dispel that threat,’ said Leonardo.
Ferguson’s family says she was shot 4 times in stomach and twice in each leg.
Police say the driver dropped her wounded friend off at the hospital and left. Police have not located the second woman or the car.
Boyd told investigators that he was afraid and did not know if the women were armed.
He cooperated with law enforcement officials and forfeited his gun and cell phone.
An investigation into the incident and Boyd’s claim of self-defense is ongoing. Evidence will be turned over to the district attorney who will decide whether to press charges against Boyd.
