Walmart parking lot shooting involved stolen car, drug deal gone bad

Fairfield Twp. police are working to piece the different angles recorded by Walmart security cameras to get a better understanding of what happened when a 17-year-old boy was shot in a suspected drug deal gone bad on Saturday.

The teenager, according to witnesses, allegedly set up a drug deal at 3 p.m. Saturday in the parking lot of Walmart on Princeton Road. The alleged deal was set up through a social media interaction, said Fairfield Twp. Police Capt. Doug Lanier.

INITIAL REPORT: Police looking for Walmart shooter

“I believe it occurs quite frequently, which could occur in any parking lot,” he said of alleged drug deals set up via social media. “People do it because they feel it’s a safe place to make the transaction in public, but of course it still doesn’t prevent problems like this one, which was in broad daylight.”

During the alleged drug deal, a male subject shot the teen in the leg. The teen then accelerated his vehicle forward and struck multiple vehicles and a shopping cart corral.

The alleged shooter is described as a light-skin, mixed-race male, possibly 16 to 19 years old, around 5-foot-6 to 5-foot-7 and 135 pounds with black curly hair and a goatee. The suspect, who was wearing a dark jacket and dark sweatpants, fled the scene on foot, running westbound across the Walmart parking lot.

Lanier said the suspect was dropped off at Walmart in a stolen red four-door 2007 Toyota Camry with a sunroof. The vehicle was stolen on the west side of Cincinnati on Friday, Lanier said. Police found the stolen vehicle.

Lanier said the 17-year-old’s name is not being released because he is a juvenile victim, and he has been released from West Chester Hospital. When asked if he could be charged with selling drugs, Lanier said, “It’s still under investigation.”

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