Florida GameStop employee fatally shot a fleeing shoplifter stealing Pokemon cards
Written by worldOneFm on October 18, 2023
PEMBROKE PINES, Fla. — A GameStop clerk who police say fatally shot a fleeing shoplifter has been charged with manslaughter.
Derrick Guerrero, 33, was working at the video game retailer’s store in a suburban Fort Lauderdale strip mall Tuesday night when a man grabbed five boxes of Pokemon Scarlet & Violet “ultra-premium” trading cards and ran toward the door, Pembroke Pines police said in a report released Wednesday. The cards retail for $120 a box.
Guerrero pulled a handgun from his waistband and fired one shot, hitting the man in the side, police said. The shoplifter dropped the cards and ran outside to a waiting pickup truck, where a woman called police. He died three hours later at a hospital.
Florida, under its “stand your ground” law, lets someone use deadly force if there is a threat of death or great bodily harm to themselves or others, but it does not allow it simply to protect property. Manslaughter is a killing that is unplanned and in the heat of the moment.
Guerrero was being held at the Broward County Jail on $25,000 bail. Jail records do not show if he has an attorney.
GameStop did not immediately respond to a phone call and email seeking comment Wednesday.
AP
