A shoplifting incident turned into a tense hostage situation when a father, who aided the shoplifter in escaping, used his four-year-old daughter as a human shield to avoid getting shot by the police. The officers who were dealing with the situation were also slightly hampered by their surroundings, as civilians not only tried to intervene but also completely misunderstood what was going on.
As depicted in the video posted by Midwest Safety, the incident was preceded by an 18-year-old Black woman, identified later as Alisha, making off with a little $300 worth of products from a Metro Market.
An employee at the store tried to stop her but was shaken off. She was then picked up in a car, driven by a Black male who was identified as a friend of hers. His name was John. He also had a child in the car, who was identified as his 4-year-old daughter.
As the car tried to make a getaway, it crashed into a truck, which forced it to come to a halt after driving for a while. Officers on site issued repeated commands for all concerned to exit the vehicle.
However, they were unaware of the fact that there was a child present in the car. After issuing repeated commands, John would exit the vehicle, but would be carrying his daughter in his arms, such that her body would be covering his vitals.
Police would repeatedly command him to let his daughter go, but John refused to do so, citing safety concerns for himself. The police would ask him to approach the vehicle after his daughter was in their custody. However, the man would insist on walking towards the cops while carrying his daughter.
The cop said, “Can you have the daughter go back in the car?” John replied, “No. This is the only way I feel safe.”
The police allowed him to approach their vehicles and immediately took the child out of his hands. He was taken into custody along with his friend, while the mother of the child was called. She was promptly collected.
There was one bystander claiming to be the daughter’s uncle, but the girl refused to recognise him. Another bystander recorded the event and assumed that someone had been shot. The police were quick to clarify that no one had been shot.
The woman bystander asked, “The guy, the man who was driving, did he get He got shot clearly, right?” The cop said, “No, he got no, nobody got shot.”
The video posted by Midwest Safety has garnered about a little over half a million views.
A comment under the post read, “I’m a black man fearing for my life!” He yells after shoplifting, ramming a truck, and endangering his daughter by using her as a human shield. F**king disgusting.”
Another comment read, “‘I don’t know what happened, ‘ brother, you’re fleeing from the police, and your kid is being used as a shield.” A third comment said, “My skin genuinely crawls listening to that man use his daughter like that.”
