KANSAS CITY, Mo – We’re learning what terrifying moments people inside a Northland CVS store faced when a man tried to rob it, and held an employee hostage before he was shot by police.
It all started with a phone call to police. A frantic caller who said a man was headed to CVS and was going to kill someone. Kelsey Jacobs was inside his home watching the Royals game with his son.
“We started seeing flashing lights come into the living room. We looked and saw 20 to 30 cars,” Jacobs recalled.
He ran outside, a neighbor told him she heard a gunshot so he started asking police questions.
“One cop said, ‘officer-involved shooting,’and somebody else said something about a hostage,” he said.
Just a few feet away, police say Brandon Sampson ran inside and told everyone to get on the ground.
According to court documents he put his hand in his coat pocket and pointed it at a cashier, and told her to get money out of the register, but then yelled for her to stop. The victim said he grabbed her and walked with her to the front door.
Meanwhile, an employee was hiding in the pharmacy, and a customer was hiding in the bathroom.
The victim said as she was walking under Sampson’s grip through the front doors, she was able to break free and run away. Police say Sampson lunged at them with a sharp weapon and an officer fired one shot.
Sampson fell to the ground.
“There were people on all the corners, dumbfounded at what happened,” Jacobs said.
Back across the street, Jacobs started to worry. Because he lives so close, he and his family regularly shop at the CVS. Jacobs says he’s become very close with an older woman who is a cashier.
“I was worried it was her,” he said.
So on Thursday, he walked over to the CVS. He was relieved when he saw his friend.
“I just said, ‘I’m glad it wasn’t you, I was worried about you,'” he said.
The employee told Jacobs she was off work when all of it happened, but is still nervous every time the sliding doors open.
“She’s pretty worried about it. She doesn’t think it’ll happen any time soon but she doesn’t feel safe,” Jacobs said.
We did some digging, according to online records Sampson was just released from prison in September for criminal damage. He also has prior convictions of resisting arrest and assault.
Sampson is still listed in critical condition.
