Yesterday, we told you about a viral clip of a young girl going on a path of destruction inside a Walmart store, kicking displays, throwing food items on the floor and breaking glass bottles.
Although many who watched the video left comments calling for the girl to get a good old fashioned butt whoopin’ and her parents to have to pay for the damage done inside the store, there was one woman heard on the clip asking people to have a little more compassion, claiming others “don’t know what she’s been through.” Now, that woman is speaking out and giving more details about the shocking in-store event.
Throughout the video, a bystander named Amber Gregory is heard trying to convince other Walmart shoppers to be less outraged and more empathetic of the girl who is caught on camera moving through the aisles without a parent or guardian, throwing things around her.
According to new reporting from TMZ, Gregory says the child was not “bad” or “bratty” but non-verbal and neurodivergent — a non-medical term the Cleveland Clinic says is used to describe someone who has different strengths and challenges that impact how their brain works.
Gregory, who has a neurodivergent child of her own, told TMZ that the girl in the store was unable to say her name or let anyone around her know what was wrong. Instead of trying to record the incident on their phones, she says, other shoppers should have been trying to locate the girl’s family.
According to TMZ, Gregory says the girl was alone in the store for about 45 minutes to an hour before one of her parents showed up. She adds, the person had to run out of the store with the girl to avoid all of the cameras and onlookers.
Although Gregory’s version of the event gives us a little more insight into what happened, we still have lots of questions. Hopefully the child is safe and can get the resources she needs.