CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Charleston police made three arrests Friday night and were looking for two other suspects in connection with an armed robbery and shooting that happened 24-hours earlier at the Kanawha City Foodland.
Police charged John Proctor, III, 19, of Charleston, with first-degree robbery and malicious wounding. He allegedly pulled the trigger that injured clerk Shawna Sampson, 44, of Winifrede. She was shot once in the chest. Investigators also charged Ricky Patterson, 18, of Charleston, and a 17-year-old boy with first-degree robbery.
Arrest warrants were also issued for Telisa McCauley and Alisyn Proctor, John Proctor’s sister, who allegedly drove the getaway car.
“They took money from multiple locations in the store,” said Lt. Steve Cooper, chief of the Charleston Police Detective Division. “They were demanding money, it was a little bit chaotic and a situation that would have been frightening to be involved in and it escalated even more when the clerk was shot.”
Sampson has worked for Foodland for the past seven years. The store has four locations in the Charleston area.
“She closes the store for three nights a week,” said general manager Dennis Ramsey. “What we mean by close is she manages the floor. We have an office girl and she helps her out.”
Ramsey was in the office area doing the normal work to close out the day’s business and was near the safe where much of the money was located.
“They demanded cash and jumped over the counter where the safe is,” said Cooper. “They were actually able to steal some rolls of money. She was shot once in the chest by one of the suspects, they then fled the store.”
The store is open 24 hours and Ramsey said one register would have still been open at the hour of the robbery. An unknown number of other employees and customers in the store witnessed the robbery. Police have questioned each and taken as many details as they can remember.
“The entire incident was captured on the in-store camera,” said Cooper.
Police were able to track the pair out of the store to MacCorkle Ave. where they apparently got into a car. It’s not known what direction they fled. Charleston police spent much of the night following up on other security cameras in the area which may have been able to capture footage of the suspect’s vehicle fleeing the area.
Sampson is in stable condition at the Charleston Area Medical Center.
“Everybody’s very upset,” said Ramsey. “Shawna is a good friend to all of the employees. Continue to pray for all of the family and the owner of the store as it’s a big hardship on him as things happen to his employees. It hurts.”
Although they are open 24 hours, Ramsey indicated it was the first time the store had been robbed. Although an uncommon occurrence, they do try to prepare workers for the possibility.
“We talk to people when we first hire them and tell them to not do anything to try and stop a robbery,” Ramsey said. “Things just happen and when it does happen, it’s all up to your employees and how they react.”