Walmart security guard in Thompson feels lucky to be alive after being attacked with shopping cart
CBC
WARNING: This story contains a graphic photo and description of a severe injury.
A security guard at the Walmart in Thompson says she is lucky to be alive after being attacked with a shopping cart by an alleged shoplifter.
Manju Chopra, 63, was at work on Wednesday evening when a man tried to steal meat from the store in the northern Manitoba city, she said.
As the alleged shoplifter tried to leave the store, another security guard asked the man to return the items or pay for them, but he refused, said Chopra.
That's when things turned violent, as the alleged shoplifter attacked the other security guard, she said.
"I tried to protect [the other] guard," she told CBC on Saturday. "I don't know if … [the alleged shoplifter] was intoxicated or whatever, but he wanted to kill my colleague, and I just went out to help him out."
Kitana Garson, who lives in Split Lake and does a lot of her shopping in Thompson, was outside the Walmart when the incident happened and watched it unfold.
"I seen them fighting. At first they were exchanging punches, the [male] security guard and the guy, and then all of a sudden a cart comes flying out of nowhere and hits the lady [Chopra] right in the head," she said.
"She was badly injured," with a large gash that was bleeding profusely, said Garson.
Garson and others rushed to help Chopra and put pressure on the wound, as others called 911 and waited for police and paramedics to arrive.
"Because of them I am alive. I could have died," said Chopra, adding there was "a lot of blood all over the floor."
"There could have been a brain hemorrhage. Thank God I'm alive."
She was taken to the hospital where she received 17 staples to close the wound on her head.
Her 35-year-old colleague was treated for his injuries at the scene.