‘I would be suing’: Walmart customers say workers locked them in for shopping after hours
Can you imagine a trip to Walmart becoming an overnight stay? That's what seems to be happening in a viral video making the rounds on TikTok lately.
In a video captioned, "Send help please we just wanna go HOME!!" a group of shoppers appear to be trapped behind the locked automatic doors of a Walmart. The video's screen text reads, "POV: They locked us in Walmart because we were shopping after hours."
The brief video was uploaded three days ago to the account of a TikToker known as Kay (@raheemwifey). It currently has over 3.1 million views as of Monday.
In it, a man dressed in a blue Walmart shirt can be seen locking the doors of a Walmart. Someone says, "The Walmart is insane," before another voice shouts, "Stop!" However, the man appears to be inside the Walmart, not outside.
Nevertheless, a voice can be heard saying "I can't get out," as the employee locks the door and walks away.
In the video's second scene, a person, presumably Kay, walks in the area between the inside and outdoor doors, looking into the store's parking lot as several employees in safety vests, and a man in a blue Walmart vest, riding a scooter, pass by outside.
"Hello," the person filming says. "I can't get out," she says as the man on the scooter looks directly at her.
Despite appearances, the situation is probably not that dire. As noted before, the first half of the video was taken in the entryway, not from indoors looking in.
It should also be noted that Kay's TikTok bio states that the account is "just for fun." So it seems likely that the video was filmed as a joke. The Daily Dot has reached out to Kay via TikTok comment and messenger for further comment.
@raheemwifey Send help please we just wanna go HOME!! ???? #xbcyza #viraltiktok #walmart #xcyzba ♬ Spooky, quiet, scary atmosphere piano songs - Skittlegirl Sound
Viewers are horrified
Some of Kay's viewers were horrified by the apparent situation in the video.
"If they don’t call law enforce [sic] and leave you in their [sic] for a certain amount of time, they can be held accountable for unlawful detainment or whatnot and a form of kidnapping in some states," huskey2244 (@huskey2244) wrote.
"Walmart would be getting HELLA sued for this," another wrote. Kay responded, "I can sue them fr ?"
Many viewers were also quick to point out that the automatic sliding doors would probably have an emergency push-open feature.
William (@william.hood0) commented, "I work at Walmart, the doors slide open even when off, you jus have to manually do it, that's how I got back in when I forgot sum nd all doors were already closed."
"Most of those doors are very much open. You just gotta slide it. Some have a stick or a rod up top to keep it from opening but just lift it up or move it and it will easily slide open," another viewer pointed out.
Prank or not, there are instances of people getting locked into Walmarts for real.
In 2018, 79-year-old Larry Todd found himself locked into a South Carolina Walmart after stopping in to buy dog food, according to WRAL News.
“The place was shut down completely. I said, ‘Oh, I’m locked in,’” Todd said. He was later detained by police after he tripped a burglar alarm in the store.
“I was interrogated by the police department. Of course, they have to make a report because I was in the store and wasn’t supposed to be,” Todd told WRAL. “They searched me and put handcuffs on me.”
“I guess I didn’t look like a criminal. I hope I didn’t.”
And in 2019, Sarah Luke was trapped in a Galveston Walmart garden center after-hours.
"I thought he (employee) saw me, but I was also wearing a green sweatshirt," Luke told Houston's ABC 13 affiliate. "Maybe I blended in with the plants, but he or she, [I] don't really know, locked me in!"
"I just stood there and said, 'Oh, this isn't happening,'" she said.
"Whenever someone came by, I just started knocking on the door, waving my arms around!"
Luke later called her mother and was released by the store's manager and area police.
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