Teen slain by Walgreen’s co-worker in break room, Colorado cops say. ‘Blood everywhere’

A teenage Walgreens employee in Colorado Springs was killed by one of her coworkers who she made complaints about the year before, police told local media outlets.

Riley Whitelaw was 16 years old when she first told store managers that her coworker, Joshua Johnson, was pursuing her and making her uncomfortable, KKTV reported.

Police said Johnson, now 28, had gotten warnings about his behavior, but several weeks agoWhitelaw requested to work during different hours so her schedule wouldn’t overlap with Johnson’s, KRDO reported. However, when Whitelaw requested to work more hours in the store, she was told that doing so would require her to work at the same time as Johnson, the outlet reported.

On June 11, the Colorado Springs Police Department received a call from a store manager, who said he found a body in the break room and that there was “blood everywhere,” Fox 21 reported.

According to an arrest affidavit, there were “significant blood stains on the floor, cabinets and counter of the break room,” and that an ID badge and radio earpiece were found near the girl’s feet, the outlet reported.

“Officers observed no signs of life,” the affidavit said, according to KKTV.

A teenage customer told police she’d heard a woman screaming and the sound of stall doors slamming, KKTV reported.

A store manager told police that surveillance video showed Johnson stacking bins in front of the camera until they blocked the lens. Someone had also taped over the break room windows, KRDO reported.

State troopers found Johnson about 100 miles outside the city, KKTV reported. He told officers that he’d been in the break room but said he fell in the blood and had gone home to change his clothes, the outlet reported.

Johnson was “arrested without incident” and faces the charge of first-degree murder, the Colorado Springs Police Department wrote on Twitter. He was booked into the El Paso County Jail and is being held without bail, according to jail records.

Whitelaw was a student at Air Academy High School, KRDO reported. Principal Dan Olson told students and parents that grief counselors would be available to students for an indefinite period of time following Whitelaw’s death.

“The loss of a fellow student and friend is incredibly difficult, and students may have worries, questions, and high emotions,” Olson said in a letter, Fox 21 reported. “They may feel sad, depressed or even angry. Therefore, it is in moments like these that we must come together and create networks of support.”

The Colorado Springs Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment from McClatchy News.