Nashville shoplifter shot by security guard outside Kroger
NASHVILLE, TN June 17, 2021 Metro Police are working to identify the man who shot a Kroger security guard with a flare gun after he tried to stop a suspected shoplifter on Tuesday night.
The security officer was working security at the Kroger located at 5319 Mt. View Road when he saw Christopher Walpole, 30, leave the store at 10:45 p.m. with what appeared to be unpaid items hidden in his pants.
The security guard said that he followed Walpole outside only to take a photo of him and bar him from the store, but he resisted and got into the passenger side of a tan Ford Explorer.
The security officer deployed pepper spray.
The driver of the Explorer was backing out to flee when he shot the victim in the chest with the flare gun.
The security guard, believing he had been struck by a bullet, returned fire, striking Walpole.
Surveillance video captured the moment a suspect fired a flare gun at a Kroger security guard outside the store on Tuesday evening.
Police were later advised of a shooting victim, which was Walpole, on Brewer Drive. Walpole, who had a gunshot wound to his back, was seated in the Explorer.
During an interview with police, Walpole admitted he was at the Kroger and owned a flare gun but said he did not fire it.
When asked who did, Walpole said he didn’t know and that the man driving the vehicle, the suspected shooter, had told him to wait before contacting police because he had outstanding warrants and needed time to flee.
Walpole was taken to Vanderbilt University Medical Center for treatment. There are no charges against him at the time.
The security guard, who sustained burns, was treated and released from the hospital.
The driver of the Explorer appears to be a white man in his 30s. He wore loose fitting jeans and a black T-shirt. A white female was also inside the SUV.
Anyone with information about the suspect is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 615-742-7463.
