Macy’s security officer recounts shooting by shoplifter before Christmas

YAKIMA – When Caleb Bryan stopped a man who walked out of Macy’s in Union Gap without paying for two boxes of perfume a week before Christmas, it seemed like a routine shoplifting.

But instead of walking the shoplifter back to the store’s loss-prevention office and doing some paperwork, Bryan found himself in a struggle with an armed man who shot him in the arms, leaving him with wounds that could end his almost-20-year career with the Washington Army National Guard.

“One of my biggest concerns was that it was unfortunate that it happened to me, but a lot of people were affected by it,” Bryan, a Yakima resident, said. “There were people there who were doing their Christmas shopping and were hanging out in the chairs (inside the Valley Mall). “

A GoFundMe has been set up to help Bryan with his medical expenses. As of Tuesday morning, the fund had $3,425.

Bryan’s accused shooter, Vincient Guliano Donini, is in the Yakima County jail awaiting trial on charges of first-degree assault, first-degree burglary and second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm.

Bryan joined the National Guard as an infantryman, and later became a cavalry scout and is currently a first sergeant. He has been deployed to Iraq and Poland, as well as other overseas training missions and participated in the Oso, Washington, slide rescue efforts in 2014 and the COVID-19 response. He became an asset protection captain at Macy’s in June.

Shooting

On Dec. 18, Bryan was in his office in the Union Gap, Washington, store when he saw Donini on security cameras coming to the store and heading upstairs. Bryan said he recognized Donini from a prior shoplifting incident.

Bryan quickly checked the men’s fitting rooms in case Donini brought things in.

He thought Donini spotted him, so he returned to the store security office and continued to watch Donini through the camera system. Donini stepped into the mall to a sunglasses kiosk before going back to the fragrance department, where he picked up two boxes of perfume and walked out, Bryan recalled. Bryan approached Donini and identified himself as an asset protection employee. Donini dropped the boxes and tried to walk away.

“I told him we were past that point, and he needed to come with me,” Bryan said. “I did what we called appropriate use of force and placed my hand on his chest, and he became aggressive.”

Bryan said he was trying to de-escalate the situation and tell Donini that he needed to go back to the security office, where Bryan would fill out paperwork, something he described as a “quick in-and-out process.”

At that point, Donini appeared relatively calm if not dissociated, but a bystander came up to offer help to Bryan. When Bryan turned momentarily to tell the bystander to not get involved, Donini bit Bryan’s arm and a struggle began, he recalled.

Donini, Bryan said, pulled out a gun and started shooting, and Bryan felt pain in his arm and saw that both arms were bleeding. Bryan then went back to the store to initiate active-shooter lockdown procedures.

“I made it to 50-75 meters inside the store and said I need tourniquets applied to my arm,” Bryan said. “My associates were on it, and everyone was taking appropriate cover.”

Bryan was taken to MultiCare Yakima Memorial Hospital for treatment of gunshot wounds.

Donini, a documented Sureño gang member, was later arrested in Sunnyside, Washington, and is being held in the Yakima County jail in lieu of $500,000 bail.

Injuries

Bryan said the bullet broke one of the bones in his left arm. Testing shows damage to some of the nerves, and he’s experiencing muscular, skeletal and nerve pain.

“Every day’s a little bit of a struggle, but I try to think of it as small goals to overcome,” Bryan said.

He is on nondeployable status, and is being evaluated to determine whether his injuries will permanently affect his military career. He credited his military training with giving him the resilience to cope with the shooting and it’s aftermath, and worries about the people who were there during the shooting.

“These people were working their 9-to-5 jobs. They’re not expecting to do this,” Bryan said.