Police are hunting two female thieves who they say stole a handbag from the car of a terrified parent after they abandoned it to run to their child during a school shooting in Washington on Wednesday.
The suspects have since racked up $36,000 in credit card bills at a local Walmart.
They were seen on surveillance cameras buying multi-packs of toilet paper, paper towel and small home appliances.
Spokane County Sheriff’s Office released still images from the footage on social media to ask for the public’s help.
The shooting took place at Freeman High School in Rockford, Washington, on Wednesday morning shortly after 10am.
Police in Rockford, Washington, are hunting this woman and one other who they say stole a handbag from the car of a panicked parent as they rushed to their child during a school shooting on Wednesday. The thieves were seen in Walmart (above) and have racked up $36,000 in fraudulent charges
The other woman was filmed in Walmart wearing a grey, zipped up sweatshirt
Fifteen-year-old Sam Strahan was killed trying to stop alleged gunman Caleb Sharpe from opening fire on classmates.
Three other teenage girls were taken to hospital. Sharpe is in custody.
When the shooting was first announced, parents flocked to the school to try to reach their children but had to abandon their cars on Highway 27 because police had shut it down.
Many ran more than a mile to get to the school to be reunited with their children and most were unaware if their child had been injured at the time.
Spokane County Sheriff’s Office revealed on Friday that between 10.30am and noon, when the panic had reached fever-pitch, the two women ‘prowled’ on one mother’s car to steal her purse.
They have since cashed checks and used her credit card to rack up the bills.
Another view of the first woman police say is responsible for the theft
The handbag was taken from this car after it was abandoned on Highway 27 in Rockford, Washington, by a panicked parent
Parents abandoned their cars on Highway 27 and ran for over a mile to get to the school (above) on Wednesday as the shooting unfolded
Sam Strahan, 15, was shot dead on Wednesday as he tried to stop teenage gunman Caleb Sharpe (right being taken into juvenile detention)
As they were evacuated, terrified students tweeted pictures of themselves on the floor, hiding from the gunman
‘On September 13, 2017, while parents parked on Hwy. 27 in Rockford and ran, some more than a mile, toward the Freeman Schools to locate their children, someone else was taking advantage of the tragic circumstances.
‘Sometime between 10:30 a.m. and noon, the suspect(s) entered a vehicle parked along Hwy. 27 and stole a purse hastily left behind by a worried parent.
‘Since the purse was stolen, the suspect(s) have fraudulently cashed checks and used stolen credit cards of the victim’s exceeding $36,000.’
The detectives called the crime ‘particularly heinous’ given the circumstances.
‘Property crimes themselves are typically hard for victims to deal with, especially when identity theft and fraud are involved, but the fact these criminals took advantage of such a tragic situation is particularly heinous.’
The department appealed for help from the local community on Facebook and was inundated with furious responses.
‘This monster is one of the lowest!’ said one person while others dubbed the thieves ‘the lowest of the low’.
Terrified parents rushed to the school but were forced to wait two hours after the shooting began for all of the children to evacuate
All of the surviving students were evacuated and reunited with their emotional parents after the shooting (above, one family’s tearful reunion)
Tributes left outside the school last week. The high school’s assistant football coach Tim Smetana is pictured paying his respects
Their outrage descended into threats of violence and prompted the sheriff’s office to issue another statement on the subject, begging people to change their tone.
‘PLEASE Stop with the profanity and call for violence! Our community is better than that. Please help us identify and hold them accountable, not call them profane names or call for Vigilante justice,’ it said.
Anyone who recognizes the pair is urged to contact police on 509-477-3159 reference #10123636.
On Wednesday, police say Breaking Bad-obsessed Sharpe walked in to school with two weapons in a duffel bag.
At 10am, he allegedly opened fire in a second floor hallway.
Three teenage girls were also injured and were taken to hospital where hundreds flocked to show them their support
Strahan tried to stop him but was shot in the head and killed on the spot. The heroic teenager was still mourning the loss of his father who died in an accident in June.
Police said Sharpe was acting out in retaliation for being bullied
Three other teenagers were injured and were taken to hospital.
Afterwards, traumatized students told how Sharpe had been acting strangely recently and had been watching documentaries about other school shootings.
They said he’d told them he was planning on doing ‘something stupid that would get him killed.’
The teenager filmed himself practising his shot with a toy gun in his back yard and posted the videos on YouTube.
On social media, he shared self-loathing posts about depression and anxiety. Police believe he was acting out in retaliation for being bullied.
He remains in a juvenile detention center in Washington awaiting a court date.