An off-duty Walmart worker from Florida has been charged with murder for allegedly shooting and killing a customer in front of his family as he bravely tried to protect a female store employee during a brawl, officials said.
Tironie Sterling, 22, has been arrested for Tuesday afternoon’s shooting at a suburban Fort Lauderdale Walmart, the Broward County Sheriff’s Office said.
According to investigators, Sterling was off the clock when went to the Lauderdale Lakes store at 2 p.m. to meet with a female colleague.
The pair got into a verbal argument that escalated into a fight in the frozen food section of the store, with Sterling dropping a handgun onto the floor and allegedly trying to snatch the woman’s phone from her hands.
Sterling was demanding to access to the woman’s text messages, but she refused, according to an arrest report.
Sterling then allegedly proceeded to shove the woman into the shelves. The victim called for help, but none of her colleagues came to her aid, according to the report.
Seeing that the woman was being attacked and that no one was there to protect her, a male customer, identified by family members as 41-year-old Thierry Bastien, stepped in to help, and him and Sterling got into a tussle.
During the fight, investigators said Sterling grabbed his gun and shot the good Samaritan multiple times, hitting him in the chest, back and lower extremities. Cops later collected 10 spent 9mm shell casings at the scene, reported NBC6.
Family members said Bastien was in the store with his girlfriend and two of his children, including an infant.
Makia Ford, Bastien’s girlfriend, told the news station Local10 that she witnessed her boyfriend get shot six times.
“That’s something I’m never, ever going to get over for the rest of my life.” the woman said.
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Ford claimed that she begged Sterling to spare Bastien’s life after he fired the first shot.
“I had the baby in my hand,” she recalled. “I was like ‘no, please, even if it’s for the baby,’ and he stood over him and shot him.”
Ford said her boyfriend had a “big heart” and “went down a hero.”
“It’s not fair to the kids and it’s not fair to me,” she added.
Sterling fled the store after the shooting, but was apprehended hours later at an apartment complex a mile south of the Walmart. He appeared in court Wednesday and was ordered held without bond.
The 22-year-old faces charges of murder while engaged in a certain felony offense and robbery by sudden snatching with a firearm or weapon.
“Senseless violence like this is intolerable, and we’re heartbroken the customer who intervened in an apparent attack on one of our associates has died from his injuries,” Walmart spokesman Charles Crowson said in a statement.
“We offer our heartfelt condolences to his family during this difficult time and will continue working with our associates, providing support as needed.”
Crowson said Sterling has been suspended and “steps are underway to terminate his employment.”
With Post wires
