A routine Tuesday night grocery run in west Charlotte turned into a nightmare for one shopper, who says she was attacked inside the Food Lion on Ashley Road and then had her car stolen at gunpoint in the parking lot. Charlotte-Mecklenburg police later found the vehicle in a Walmart parking lot on Wilkinson Boulevard and arrested two women, who were charged with robbery with a dangerous weapon. The victim, Kamani Brooks, told reporters the encounter left her shaken, especially because she has a three-year-old son.
How police say it unfolded
According to WSOC, Brooks told Channel 9 she was shopping when a woman confronted and attacked her inside the store. A second person jumped into the fray, grabbed Brooks’ keys and ran out of the building. Brooks followed them into the parking lot, where, she said, one of the suspects pulled a gun and threatened to “shoot me” and pistol-whip her. Police later located the stolen vehicle in the Walmart parking lot on Wilkinson Boulevard and arrested Kayla Ashford and Christina Garland, who now face charges of robbery with a dangerous weapon.
Victim’s account
“This situation has been so traumatic for me,” Brooks said in an interview with WSOC. She said the weapon later turned out to be a BB gun, although she did not know that as she stared down the barrel, and she worried about how the confrontation might have unfolded if her three-year-old son had been with her. The suspects are being held without bond.
Grocery-store violence in context
Hoodline previously covered a separate Food Lion parking lot shooting last June that sent one person to the hospital and prompted a large police response, highlighting how violent run-ins at grocery stores have repeatedly unsettled parts of Charlotte. Local coverage has detailed how chaotic episodes at busy shopping centers can spill into nearby streets and leave shoppers on edge.
Charges and legal context…