The Walmart security footage began innocently enough – a pen and paper offered to an officer, two suspects calmly seated on a bench. It was a Thursday in Canton, Ohio, and a routine shoplifting detention had just begun, masking a terrifying escalation about to unfold.
The calm shattered in an instant. Shane Newman, 21, spun towards the officer, a handgun appearing in his grip. A scream ripped through the room as his companion, Katerina Jefferey, pleaded, “No, no, no!” as Newman leveled the weapon at point-blank range.
A distinct click echoed in the confined space – the gun had failed to fire. Before the officer could fully react, a Walmart employee, displaying extraordinary courage, launched himself at Newman, attempting to subdue the armed suspect.
Newman, undeterred, raised the weapon again, a second attempt to fire met with another frustrating click. The employee’s desperate struggle continued, culminating in a forceful blow that sent the handgun clattering to the floor.
The officer, finally able to draw his own weapon, barked commands, “Get back! Get back!” He swiftly pinned Newman to the floor, securing him until backup arrived. Both Newman and Jefferey were immediately taken into custody.
Bodycam footage revealed the officer’s chilling account: Newman had deliberately aimed the gun at his head and pulled the trigger. He’d prepared to return fire, but the presence of the courageous employee, locked in a struggle with Newman, stayed his hand.
A critical oversight was also revealed – the officer had missed a concealed weapon in Newman’s shoulder bag during the initial search. Moments before the attack, he’d learned Newman was wanted on an active warrant and considered “armed and dangerous,” a warning that proved tragically accurate.
Newman now faces charges of attempted murder and felonious assault on a police officer. Jefferey is charged with complicity to commit robbery and weapons under disability, stemming from the possession of ammunition found on her person.
The encounter began with a simple question from the officer: “Do you have anything on you?” Newman claimed only a cellphone, then voluntarily produced a container of illegal drugs. A chilling foreshadowing, given Jefferey’s subsequent question: “Are we going to jail?”
The officer’s response, delivered with a grim irony, hung in the air: “Not unless something crazy happens.” Seconds later, something very crazy indeed had unfolded, a testament to the unpredictable nature of duty and the bravery of those who intervene.
