Inset: Raqiya Ward (KSNV). The Las Vegas Walmart, site of a fatal police shooting following a dispute that escalated into gunfire (Google Maps).
In a dramatic turn of events at a Walmart in Las Vegas, a Nevada woman engaged in a dispute with another shopper and subsequently instructed her husband to “bring a gun.” The confrontation tragically ended with her husband being shot and killed by police, following the shooting of the shopper involved in the altercation, according to law enforcement officials.
Authorities have charged Raqiya Ward with several offenses, including battery with a deadly weapon, endangerment, and conspiracy to commit battery, related to the incident on July 21. An arrest report highlighted by local news outlets KSNV and KVVU reveals that the confrontation began when Ward engaged in an argument with Kwame Swain, who was having a dispute with his girlfriend.
The verbal exchange between Ward and Swain outside the store escalated to physical altercations, with punches and rocks being thrown. In the heat of the moment, Ward allegedly called her husband, Travis Ward, requesting his urgent assistance.
Witnesses recounted to police that Ward demanded her husband, “Bring a gun,” setting the stage for the events that tragically unfolded.
“He’s inside, no shirt,” she told Travis Ward after he arrived at the store with a pistol, the arrest report says.
Travis Ward allegedly whipped out the handgun and blasted Swain in the middle of the store, sending customers and employees scattering as police arrived. The arrest report says he tried to shoot Swain multiple times but his gun malfunctioned.
Officers with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department responded to the Walmart, located in the 5100 block of Boulder Highway in East Las Vegas, around 6 a.m. shortly after it opened and encountered Travis Ward as he was walking out of the store with the gun still in his hand.
“LVMPD communications received a call for service, stating that numerous subjects were involved in a physical altercation inside,” a police captain told reporters at a press briefing after the early Tuesday morning incident.
“As an officer arrived, he heard what he believed to be a gunshot coming from inside the business, immediately followed by a suspect exiting the business holding a firearm,” the captain said. “That caused the officer to discharge his firearm, striking the suspect. … He was pronounced deceased on scene.”
Officers entered the Walmart and found Swain suffering from a gunshot wound. “That male was also provided immediate medical attention and transported to the hospital where he’s currently in critical condition,” the LVMPD captain reported.
Shoppers who were at the Walmart spoke to local media outlets about the chaos that unfolded in the store, calling it “scary” and completely unexpected.
“I literally came to get some Tylenol so I can do my morning walk, and I came into a scene looking like Baghdad,” shopper Christopher Goodloe told CBS affiliate KLAS. “I can’t believe it, man. Thirty-two years and I never experienced this in my life. Vegas has changed quite a bit.”
A female shopper told local ABC affiliate KTNV, “Honestly, it was scary because a lot of families live in the area. I’m here all the time, so to hear something like this happened at our local Walmart is crazy. I never thought it would happen over here.”
Prosecutors said in court last week that Ward and another woman who was with her during the altercation with Swain, identified as Ameea Blue, are ultimately to blame.
“This entire incident stems from a physical fight that was started by this defendant, the co-defendant and then enlisting someone to come and show up with a firearm,” a prosecutor said, according to KSNV.
Ward was ordered held without bail, while Blue is being held on a $25,000 bail. They’re both due back in court Tuesday.
The post Woman tells husband to ‘bring a gun’ to Walmart to shoot shopper she was beefing with, watches him turn the store into ‘Baghdad’ and gets him killed: Cops first appeared on Law & Crime.