Couple made 911 call about fake shooting to keep police officers busy while they shoplifted

Captain Sheila Lingle of Salisbury Police in North Carolina admits it is one of the strangest shoplifting cases she's seen recently. A couple reportedly called 911 about a fake shooting as a distraction to keep officers busy while they shoplifted from Walmart. According to the report, a woman called 911 just after 7:00am on Tuesday to report that someone had been shot at a business. The caller said that "a woman was down."

The call sparked a large response from police and emergency workers, but nothing was found and witnesses in the area said they had not seen anything unusual or heard any gunshots. At the same time, about two miles away in the Walmart, police say 33-year-old Mark Shrader, Jr and 32-year-old Erin Maureen Shrader, from China Grove, were filling up a shopping cart with items. Just moments earlier, Erin Shrader reportedly borrowed a cell phone from a Walmart employee. The employee overheard her calling 911 to report the shooting. According to police, the employee thought the incident was odd, and when she got the phone back, took it to her manager.



When they looked at the call history, it showed that the last number called was only three digits: 911. Walmart called police and then started watching the Shraders. According to the report, they had filled up a shopping cart, but realised they were being watched, so they left the cart and walked out of the store. Police say they couple then went to their car, which was parked beside the store. That's when the Shraders took items from beneath their shirts and placed them in the car, then walked back into the store and started to fill a second shopping cart.

An undercover police officer then confronted the couple in the store. When additional officers arrived, Mark Shrader was searched and police reportedly found a crack pipe in his pocket and a second crack pipe in his boot. Mark Shrader, Jr was charged with drug possession and possession of drug paraphernalia. Erin Maureen Shrader was charged with concealment of merchandise and misuse of the 911 system. Two sets of sheets, valued at $37.29, were found in the car. Police also noted that the licence plate of the car had been covered over with paper.