Plaza shoplifters threaten woman with gun as she tries to photograph them

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — What would you do if you spotted suspects trying to make a getaway?
Would you try to sneak a picture?

For one Kansas City metro woman that photo turned into a whole lot more than she bargained for.

Rachelle Adams said she had no plans of trying to detain the suspects fleeing from Moosejaw on the Plaza Thursday with an estimated $2,000 worth of merchandise. But when one female suspect pointed a gun at her, her prior military training may have taken over.

Country Club Plaza has security – both paid and that provided by the own volition of one man dressed in a Spiderman costume. But even “Spiderman” had to be impressed with the crime fighting skills of a regular citizen in action.

“Let me see if i can recognize her, she took her mask down, who took a picture of that?” the amazed Spiderman exclaimed.

That jaw dropping photo wasn’t the work of Peter Parker or any superhero, just a mom on her way home from work who was in the right place at the right – or wrong – time depending on how you look at it.

“The woman who pointed the gun at me hit this spot first,” Adams pointed to one of several dents on her black SUV.

Army Veteran Rachelle Adams saw two women running to a car loaded down with clothes on hangers followed by a store employee as she sat at a stoplight.

“I lifted my phone up to take a picture of the driver and at that moment she lifted the gun and pointed it at me. Then I decided I wasn’t going to move and chaos ensued,” she said.

Adams said the woman with the gun then got inside her vehicle trying to wrestle away her phone and move her foot off the brake. But she held her ground.

“I do remember thoughts going through my head of what if the next person she points a gun at is a child? What if the next person she points this gun at she pulls the trigger?” she said.

Video shows them ramming her car trying to get away. Some shoppers also fed up with crime were just happy Adams wasn’t hurt.

“They may be trying to be a good Samaritan and you’re very brave, but in the end of the day you should be able to go home safe to your children or family,” Susan Essien said.

The mother of three was left with a badly damaged vehicle and the suspects got away. But they didn’t get her phone or a hold of that photo. In fact the woman dropped her own phone on the road in the tussle, which Adams gladly handed over to police.

“I’m hoping this is enough to get them caught and held accountable and hopefully they change what they are doing I hope this is an eye opener,” Adams said.

As for future Plaza thieves.

“It’s not happening no more, Spiderman is here now, I’m going to be on the lookout,” the costumed would-be superhero said guarding the front of the store.

The perhaps real-life super hero said she will be on the lookout too and would likely do the same again if necessary.

While police appreciate any photos taken safely, they say the first thing you should do with your phone in an emergency is use it to call 911.

At this point police have not released that photo of the suspect as a person of interest and since the person has not been charged, FOX4 is blurring the woman’s face. Police say it’s an ongoing investigation.