UPDATE: West Virginia woman recants story of pulling gun in attempted child abduction in mall: Police
04/02/2019 1:26 pm PDT
UPDATE 6:39 p.m. ET:
A West Virginia woman recanted her story Tuesday about a man attempting to abduct her 5-year-old daughter, causing her to draw a firearm and protect the child, according to police.
According to a Facebook post from the Barboursville Police Department, officers returned to the mall to view security footage. In it, they found inconsistencies with the woman's original report. No other witnesses to the crime could be found.
When police called the woman back to the station for a detailed statement, her story became even less consistent with the evidence, investigators said.
Eventually, police said the woman admitted “she might have misjudged the suspect's actions, overreacted to the uninvited touching of her daughter and misinterpreted the intentions of the male suspect.”
MORE DETAILS: Mom recants story about pulling gun to stop abduction at West Virginia mall - WTKR
BARBOURSVILLE, W.Va. (WTVR) -- A man from Egypt was accused of attempting to abduct a 5-year-old girl after grabbing her by the hair in a West Virginia mall, WCHS reports.
According to police, the abduction attempt was foiled when the girl's mother pulled a gun on the man and told him to let her go. The woman later recanted [see above].
A man was charged with attempted child abduction Monday, according to a criminal complaint filed in the Cabell County Magistrate Court.
The mall's property manager said guns are allowed inside the mall.
MORE: Police: West Virginia woman pulls gun on man, stops attempted abduction in shopping mall - WTVR