‘It was actually worse than I thought’: Woman says she went shoe shopping for her daughter at Walmart. Then she realizes someone is following her

A woman said a man followed her through a Walmart while she shopped for her daughter’s shoes on a weekday morning, and store cameras later showed he had been hiding and searching for her. Katie (@katiechik) stated in her TikTok video that she had gone to the store around 11 o’clock to return a couple of items and pick up the shoes for upcoming family photos. 

Katie said in her TikTok video that she was in the women’s clothing section when she kept seeing a man who appeared to be maybe 10 years older than her at most. She claimed he walked by very slowly without carrying anything and kept looking at her very pointedly.

Katie explained that she noticed the behavior by the second or third time because it seemed strange given the store layout, where women’s and children’s clothing sections sit together and men’s clothing is on the other side.

Store cameras confirmed he was searching for her

She stated that the man was walking in the walkway and kept circling around where she was. After the third time, Katie said she made eye contact with him and gave him a really dirty look, and he just kind of smiled at her. She described looking around to figure out where he was going and then moving over to the shoes section, where a worker was putting items away with a cart.

Katie said she crouched down to compare a shoe she had brought with her to one in the Walmart aisle while trying to figure out the right size for her daughter. She claimed that when she got up, she saw the man again, so she went to a different part of the store, but he followed her and did not try to hide it.

She stated that he still had nothing in his hands as he followed her all over the store. Feeling concerned, Katie said she called her husband and told him someone was following her through Walmart and that she wanted him to stay on the phone with her while she checked out and left.

She explained that she stood in the self-checkout line while talking to her husband and looking around for the man, and describing him. She claimed the man then came up about two or three feet away from her and now had a bag of items, as if he had already gone through checkout.

Katie said the man looked directly at her and then stood there as if he was going to wait, which made her think he was waiting for her to leave. She stated that she immediately went up to the self-checkout worker and told him there was a man following her. She described how the man saw her approach the worker and then started booking it to exit the other side of the store.

She said the store called over undercover people she did not know they had, and they took the situation very seriously. Katie claimed staff took her into the office to identify the man and showed her camera footage while they tried to find him. She stated, “It was actually worse than I thought,” explaining that the footage showed the man hiding in places and looking for her as she moved between the kids’ section, kids’ shoes, and women’s departments.

She described how he would lose sight of her or appear to circle, then hide and search, and that when she crouched down to look at the shoes, he seemed to think he had lost her and started looking everywhere. Katie said this was very, very scary and unsettling. She added that what was even more unsettling was that after she went to the workers and the man left, he sat in his car facing the exit for over 10 minutes.

Katie stated that Walmart took the situation very, very, very seriously and that she is very thankful for that. She claimed nothing happened to her, but the staff believed her, showed zero tolerance, and used the cameras to confirm the man was truly following her around the store. 

She said she does not know what he was going to do and urged people to pay attention to their surroundings, noting that she had been paying attention and had called her husband, but that it was still very scary because you never know anyone’s intentions.

Viewers responded to the video with a mix of recognition and advice. One person who identified as a Walmart employee described the situation as common, writing, “as a walmart employee, this happens all the frickin time, even to us employees.” Another commenter pointed to a pattern they had noticed, stating, “It’s always a Walmart!!” 

Several people encouraged a more direct response in similar situations. One wrote, “Be loud ladies yell “are you following me!” “What are you doing!” “Go away” they like silent victims.” Another said, “No bc the moment a man starts creeping me out i will yell in his face and make a mf scene i am not playing.”

Others focused on the man’s behavior and the store’s cameras. One commenter observed, “They don’t even hide it anymore,” while another questioned the security response, asking, “How does security not see these behaviors on camera???” Another woman described a similar case in which a guard called her pursuer harmless.