Man points real-looking shotgun at teens outside Spokane’s General Store
Two men engage in a shouting match while one brandishes a shotgun in this surveillance image captured Sunday, Aug. 6, 2017 in the parking lot of the General Store on North Division Street. (Chad Sokol / The Spokesman-Review)
A man aimed what appears to be a real shotgun at a group of teenage boys Sunday evening at the General Store on North Division Street, in plain view of security cameras and store employees.
Several employees had just finished closing the store but stayed in the parking lot to keep an eye on four teens who were acting suspicious, said general manager Jon Evans.
At about 7:20 p.m. a gold-colored Saturn sedan sped into the parking lot, and two men emerged from the front seats, surveillance video shows.
Employees reported the driver racked the shotgun and aimed it at the teens while shouting at them, Evans said. Employees hid behind their vehicles as the confrontation unfolded.
No shots were fired, and after several minutes the men left the parking lot. Evans said they parked the Saturn in a lot on the other side of Division and stayed there for a while.
Evans, who wasn’t present during the incident, said one of his employees called 911, reported the Saturn’s license plate number and stayed at the store until about 8 p.m., but police never showed up and no arrests have been made.
“They’re just so short-staffed,” Evans said of the police department.
Evans said the store, at 2424 N. Division, is targeted by shoplifters about 400 times a year. He said there have been numerous altercations, but he’s never seen someone openly brandish a gun.