Security video from a Georgia Walmart appears to show the same customer repeatedly visiting the self-checkout. Investigators say the receipts, item counts, and surveillance angles suggest something else happened at those registers.
The customer, identified by police as elementary school assistant principal Courtney Janell Shaw, is accused of taking close to $1,000 in merchandise without paying for most of it. Local outlets report that she now faces a felony shoplifting charge, an internal school district investigation, and questions about how an educator with two decades of experience came under criminal suspicion in the first place.
What Police Say Happened
According to Fox News, citing a police incident report and local television coverage, Shaw is accused of taking 98 items from a Walmart in Cherokee County, Georgia. The total value allegedly came to $943.97.
Investigators told local station Fox 5 Atlanta that the incidents occurred over a period between November and December of the prior year. The method they described is sometimes called stacking. Police say surveillance footage shows a shopper placing several items on top of each other at self checkout, scanning only one item but bagging and removing all of them.
School principal Courtney Janell Shaw, 47 accused of shoplifting from @Walmart using ‘stacking’ method at self-checkout.
Free Home Elementary School is a highly-rated public school in Canton, Georgia, serving Pre-K through 5th grade within the Cherokee County School District pic.twitter.com/rxSo9Xq8oJ— ArmyVET2 (@Armyvet1219) January 28, 2026
Fox News reports that Shaw, 47, was booked into the Cherokee County jail on one felony count of shoplifting and later released on a $4,875 bond, citing information from the Cherokee Tribune & Ledger-News.
Public jail records and detailed police reports were not attached to the article provided to Truthfully, and the case file itself is not available within this analysis. The narrative that follows reflects what local media outlets say those records contain, not documents independently reviewed here.
How Investigators Identified a Suspect
Fox 5 Atlanta, as summarized by Fox News, reported that a Walmart employee initially contacted police after reviewing in-store surveillance. The worker allegedly provided footage that appeared to show the same customer using stacking at self-checkout.
According to that account, investigators then:
Item 1: Reviewed the video and noted two vehicles seen during the suspected thefts, described as a 2018 Ford F-150 and a 2020 Jeep Grand Cherokee.
Item 2: Used a driver’s license database to match an individual to the person depicted in the footage.
Item 3: Confirmed that the two vehicles were registered to the same person and located them at that person’s residence.
Local coverage states that this person was identified as Courtney Janell Shaw. At that point, according to the reporting, officers obtained a warrant and took her into custody.
The agencies involved have not, in the materials cited, publicly described any statement from Shaw, any explanation she may have offered, or whether she disputed the interpretation of the video.
A School Veteran Suddenly on Leave
Shaw was serving as assistant principal at Free Home Elementary School in Cherokee County at the time of the alleged offenses. The school’s website, cited by Fox News, states that she joined Free Home Elementary in 2024 after more than two decades in education, including previous assistant principal roles at two other elementary schools in the district.
Once the allegations reached district leaders, the Cherokee County School District moved quickly to restrict her from work. In a statement to Fox 5 Atlanta, quoted by Fox News, the district said:
“Immediately upon these allegations being reported, the employee was placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of internal and law enforcement investigations.”
The district added, “Maintaining the safety and security of our students and staff is our top priority, and inappropriate conduct will never be tolerated.”
Administrative leave in this context typically means the employee is removed from day-to-day duties, often with pay, while investigations proceed. The district did not, in the quoted statement, say whether any findings of wrongdoing had been made under its own policies. There is also no public statement in the provided material from Shaw or any attorney responding to the allegations, so her position on the charge is not known.
What Felony Shoplifting Means in Georgia
Shaw is charged with one felony count of shoplifting, according to summaries from Fox News and the Cherokee Tribune. In Georgia, shoplifting is legally defined as “theft by shoplifting” under state law.
Georgia Code section 16-8-14 explains that a person commits theft by shoplifting when they, among other actions, take merchandise of another “with the intent of appropriating merchandise to his or her own use without paying for the same or to deprive the owner of possession thereof.” The whole statute is available through legal reference sites such as Justia’s Georgia Code library.
Under that law, shoplifting can be treated as a felony in several circumstances. One of them is when the property value exceeds $500. The value cited by local outlets in Shaw’s case is $943.97, which is above that threshold.
Felony theft by shoplifting in Georgia can carry a prison sentence of 1 to 10 years, depending on the circumstances and any prior record. Sentencing decisions, if a person is convicted, rest with the court and can also include probation, fines, and restitution.
At this stage, there is no indication in the accessible reporting that Shaw has entered a plea, reached any agreement with prosecutors, or gone to trial. She is legally presumed innocent unless and until the state proves the charge beyond a reasonable doubt in court, or she admits guilt.
Self-Checkout, Surveillance, and Enforcement
The description of the alleged conduct points to a broader pattern retailers and law enforcement have been confronting in recent years. Large chains, including Walmart, have significantly expanded the use of self-checkout. In parallel, they have invested in surveillance systems and loss prevention staff who review video and transaction data.
While this article focuses on one case at one Georgia store, similar accusations in other jurisdictions often involve:
Item 1: Alleged manipulation at the scanner, such as stacking items or scanning cheaper barcodes.
Item 2: After-the-fact reviews of receipt data that flag irregular patterns at specific registers or times.
Item 3: Matching surveillance images to driver’s license or other government databases when police become involved.
The Fox News story, summarizing Fox 5 Atlanta coverage, reports that Walmart personnel contacted police after compiling surveillance footage. Retailers typically have discretion about whether to involve law enforcement in suspected low-level thefts, although company policies are not public in this instance.
Because the underlying incident report is not posted with the coverage, it is not clear whether investigators considered alternative explanations for the transactions, such as scanning errors or confusion at the register, or whether they concluded the pattern clearly showed intentional theft. The existence of a felony charge indicates prosecutors believe the available evidence meets the legal standard to proceed.
What Remains Unclear
Several key points in the case remain unclear, and they could significantly affect its outcome.
First, there is no information about any prior criminal record. Under Georgia law, prior theft convictions can influence both charging decisions and potential penalties. Without access to court records, it is not known whether this is Shaw’s first time facing a charge.
Second, local reporting does not quote Shaw, any lawyer representing her, family members, or colleagues. There may be reasons for that. She may have declined comment, or reporters may not yet have reached her. Until her side of the story is made public in filings, court hearings, or direct statements, the only detailed narrative comes from law enforcement and the retailer.
Third, there is no published timeline in the available coverage for court proceedings. It is not clear when an arraignment took place, what plea was entered, whether a preliminary hearing was scheduled, or if any motions have been filed to contest the evidence.
Finally, the Cherokee County School District has not publicly detailed what its internal investigation entails or when it expects to reach a conclusion about Shaw’s employment status. The district statement focuses on safety and intolerance for “inappropriate conduct.” Still, it does not specify how it will balance due process for an accused employee with concerns from parents and staff.
For now, the public record is primarily confined to a police account relayed through local media, a brief school district statement, and a single felony charge. Until more information surfaces in court or through direct statements from those closest to the case, an experienced educator’s future in the classroom and her exposure to criminal punishment will turn on video and data that the wider community has not seen.
