Shoplifter Who Shot At Shoppers Arrested: Police

LAWRENCEVILLE, GA – Gwinnett Police detectives have arrested the shoplifter, they say, who tried to shoot at shoppers when the shoppers attempted to stop him.

Antonio Tyrone McClure, 37, of Decatur, was arrested and charged with aggravated assault and felony shoplifting. The Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Office’s Fugitive Squad immediately began working to locate Antonio once they received the warrants. They developed leads in the case and Wednesday morning they, along with DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office deputies, served the warrants at 882 Gatehouse Drive, Apartment A, in Decatur. McClure was taken into custody without incident.

On Sept. 5, McClure entered a business, located at 875 Lawrenceville Suwanee Road in unincorporated Lawrenceville. He loaded over $1,800 worth of equipment and fled to the parking lot. During the course of fleeing, other shoppers attempted to stop him but he pulled out a handgun and threatened to shoot them. He fled to a waiting vehicle and began to load the stolen merchandise. Additional bystanders attempted to intervene but the shoplifter tried to shoot them but his gun did not fire.

Police said a second person, helping in shoplifter, was waiting in the vehicle. The shoplifter assaulted a shopper with his handgun, loaded the stolen merchandise into the vehicle, and was driven away by the person helping him.

(For more news like this, sign up for Patch real-time email alerts for the latest news in Lawrenceville — or other neighborhoods. Access Patch on the go with our iPhone app or our brand new app for Android phone users.)

Photos courtsy Gwinnett County Police Department