'Terror on people's faces': Witness describes scene from shooting at Aiken Walmart

Jun. 9—Shock and horror are how Kari Johnson described a shooting Wednesday night at the Walmart on Whiskey Road.

Scrambling for safety, she couldn't believe what happened.

"It was chaos, and you can see terror on people's faces," she said.

Johnson is still trying to wrap her head around the Wednesday night shooting that left a 13-year-old injured and led to the arrest of an Aiken man.

Stephen Christopher Foreman, 32, was arrested and charged Thursday with attempted murder and possession of a weapon during a violent crime.

In 2019, Foreman was arrested for kidnapping after he held members of his family captive. He pleaded guilty to two counts of pointing and presenting a firearm in 2021 and was sentenced to mental health court.

"It's beyond traumatic, and I still can't wrap my head around it still," Johnson said. "I definitely didn't think it would happen at an Aiken Walmart."

The shooting in Aiken was not the first shooting to take place at a Walmart. In 2019, a man killed 20 people and wounded 26 in a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, the Associated Press reported.

In November 2022, another shooting took place at a Chesapeake, Virginia Walmart by a manager who killed six people, the Associated Press reported.

The shooting

Dispatch received a call around 7:34 p.m. in reference to a juvenile who had been shot in the arm and abdomen at the Walmart on Whiskey Road.

While en route to the shooting, dispatch advised police that Foreman called and said he was at KFC.

Foreman was taken into custody at the KFC and transported to the Aiken County detention center, where he is currently being held and has no bond.

Officers on the scene rendered aid to the victim and gave the victim oxygen before she was taken to a hospital.

Foreman admitted that he discarded the gun on a shelf at Walmart, police reported, and officers found the gun on a bottom shelf in the cards section at the store.

'I was so scared'

"It is something I will never forget," Johnson said.

She said she will never forget the chaos, the looks on people's faces when the shooting unfolded and that the store did not have security.

Johnson said she was in the grocery aisle with her husband getting bacon when they heard a pop near the watch area. She said her husband escorted her to a safe space.

"He took off running for help because he was in the Army as a medic," she said.

She said customers in the store didn't know what was going on and thought it was a balloon popping until she saw people run toward the grocery exit.

"That is when I knew something was wrong, but my husband asked me to stay put," she said.

A short time later a store employee said it was an active shooter and told people to leave the store.

"I just grabbed my purse, started towards the door and I was so scared," Johnson said. " I remember I was looking around because I didn't know where the active shooter was."

Johnson said a lot of people were standing outside and didn't know what to do. She said she called 911 after hearing there was an active shooter and people were coming inside the store to shop. She said a short time later police arrived and roped the store off with caution tape.

"A few people and myself were yelling 'active shooter, go away,' and one guy still went in and self-checked out during this," she said.

Johnson was worried about her husband, who stayed inside the store to help the victim. She said before EMS arrived, her husband helped resuscitate the victim five times by using CPR.

Johnson said the victim was in the apparel aisle with her mother looking for a pair of shorts when the suspect decided to shoot her.

"A 13-year-old was shopping with her mother, was shot and is fighting for her life," she said.

She said she thinks about her own children, who are 10 and 16, and could have been victims.

"When I got home I just hugged my children so, so hard," she said. "I am still in a state of shock."

Johnson said she wants Walmart to have more safety protocols such as active shooting drills.

According to a Walmart website, the company offers virtual reality active shooter training for employees. During the training, employees learn and practice the avoid, deny, defend method.

Johnson said after the shooting at Walmart she wants people to be nice to each other because shootings can happen in places even as small as Aiken.

"I want this to be a wake-up call for people that it can happen at any time and anywhere and that there is a 13-year-old girl fighting for life, and that is the most important thing right now," Johnson said.

Anyone with any information on the shooting should call Detective Celina Dobbs at 803-643-2121.