Officer Stable After Being Shot in Head and Face by Shoplifter
14 Mar 2021
An Omaha, Nebraska, police officer is in stable condition after being shot in the top of the head and in the face by an alleged JC Penny’s shoplifter.
ABC News reports officer Jeffrey Wittstruck (pictured) was called to store just before 3:30 p.m. Friday, and arrived to find 21-year-old Kenya Lamont Jenkins Jr. had been detained by security.
Jenkins was allegedly resisted arrest.
Omaha Police Chief Todd Schmaderer said: “Wittstruck directed Jenkins to remove his backpack at which time Jenkins stood up and placed his right hand in his sweatshirt pocket. Officer Wittstruck asked Jenkins to show his hands multiple times but Jenkins refused. Officer Wittstruck informed Jenkins he was under arrest and Jenkins remained uncooperative, pushing Officer Wittstruck away while he attempted to place handcuffs on Jenkins.”
Wittstruck had been dispatched to the JC Penney at 3.27pm after Jenkins was detained by store security after he was allegedly caught stuffing a package of T-shirts into his backpack, cops said in a news release.
When cops arrived, Jenkins – who had allegedly given store security a fake name was sitting in a chair in the security office and was not cooperative with police.
Wittstruck ordered him to take off his backpack and Jenkins stood up and stuffed his right hand in his sweatshirt pocket.
Omaha officer shot four times
The cop, who has been with the Omaha Police Department since September 2016, then ordered Jenkins to show his hands
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The incident began when the suspect tried to steal a package of t-shirts.
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Police officer shot in face and head by shoplifter
Officer Jeffrey Wittstruck was shot multiple times after responding to a shoplifting call at a JC Penney’s department store in Omaha, Nebraska.Omaha Police Department/Facebook
A police officer has been shot in his face and the top of his head after responding to a shoplifting call at a department store.
The incident occurred on Friday, March 12 at approximately 3:27 p.m. at a JC Penney’s department store in Omaha, Nebraska, when Officer Jeffrey Wittstruck was dispatched to a report of a shoplifter who had been detained by security after they allegedly observed him taking a package of t-shirts and placing them in his backpack before attempting to exit the establishment without paying for them, according to the Omaha Police Department.