TikTok user @katiechik is sharing an important reminder with viewers after she says a man followed her through a Walmart store. In a video that has received 3.4 million views and 5,388 comments at the time of publication, Katie urges people to stay aware of their surroundings after the unsettling experience.
Katie begins by explaining that the incident happened at around 11 a.m. on a weekday. She had gone to Walmart to exchange a few items and buy her daughter a new pair of shoes for a family photo.
"While I was in Walmart, I went over to the women's clothing section and I was looking at a couple of things and I kept seeing this man, like, maybe ten years older than me at max. He kept walking by very slowly. He didn't have anything and he just kept very pointedly looking at me," she says.
The second time she noticed him, Katie began to grow suspicious. She questioned why he kept appearing in the women's clothing section when the men's clothing department was on the other side of the store. Even after she gave him a dirty look the third time she saw him, he smiled back at her.
The man then followed her to the shoe department. After she left that section, he continued following her. At that point, Katie called her husband to tell him what was happening.
She stayed on the phone with her husband as she headed to the checkout line. The man followed her there, too. Katie noticed that he had a bag and appeared to have already checked out, making her feel as though he was waiting for her.
Afraid, she approached a self-checkout employee and told them that a man was following her around the store.
The man ran off, and the Walmart employee brought over an undercover security employee. Katie said the staff took her concerns seriously and brought her into an office, where she could potentially identify the man.
When she reviewed the security footage, she realized the situation was even more unsettling than she had initially thought. According to Katie, the man had been hiding across the store and waiting for her. After he left the store, the footage also showed him sitting in his car for about 10 minutes, seemingly waiting for her to come outside.
Although nothing ultimately happened, Katie said the experience left her shaken. She used the video to remind viewers to stay aware of their surroundings when they're out in public.
TikToker Says a Man Followed Her Through Multiple Walmart Departments
"As a walmart employee, this happens all the frickin time, even to us employees," one user commented.
Other viewers offered suggestions for staying safe in stores. Some recommended loudly asking whether someone was following them so other shoppers would hear, while others suggested recording the person as a possible deterrent.
"They don't even hide it anymore," another user wrote.
Katie's experience also prompted other commenters to share similar encounters. One viewer said they had recently been followed around a Walmart and had alerted employees.
"I had this happen with a woman at Walmart recently with my kids and they took it very seriously as well I was so thankful!" they wrote.
The Daily Dot was unable to independently verify the claims made by TikTok creator @katiechik, which are based on her opinions shared in the video.
