Following shoe sale shooting in Richfield, frequent online sellers offer safety tips
RICHFIELD, Minn. – An exchange to buy sneakers turned violent on New Year's Day.
Police say a robber shot a man near Donaldson Park in Richfield just before midnight Sunday night. A gunman, who had agreed online to buy shoes from the 22-year-old victim, shot him and stole some of his personal items.
Police haven't caught the shooter, and they believe there is more than one robber involved. The victim is in the hospital, but is expected to survive.
This is at least the second time in two months that an online shoe sale went bad. A 19-year-old man faces murder charges for shooting a 17-year-old boy in Plymouth back in November.
WCCO asked frequent online sellers what they do to stay safe during exchanges with strangers. Maddie Olson lives in Minneapolis and often sells things on Facebook Marketplace. She follows routine steps with each sale to make sure she's being safe.
"One of my first steps that I take is checking the person's Facebook profile. If I can find their LinkedIn or some other social media just to verify that they're a real person and that they're local," said Olson.
When Olson makes the sale, she always meets the buyer in a public place and lets others know where she is.
"I like to share my location with my parents or my boyfriend or my friends. Ideally, I have someone come with me so I'm not alone," said Olson.
Cooper Waldspurger has his own online furniture business based out of White Bear Lake.
"Gas stations are a great place if possible. They're well lit, there's always gonna be people there," said Waldspurger. "No matter if you're a buyer or a seller, don't give out your phone number, don't give out your email or personal information, that's usually gonna lead to a scam."
A majority of cities across the metro, and statewide counties, have "Safe Exchange Zones" that are under 24-7 video surveillance: