Elementary School Assistant Principal Arrested After Allegedly Stealing Nearly $1,000 Worth of Items from a Local Walmart By Kimberlee Speakman

An assistant principal at an elementary school in Georgia has been arrested after allegedly shoplifting nearly $1,000 worth of merchandise from a local Walmart.

The Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) said Courtney Janell Shaw, 47, was arrested on Monday, Jan. 19 and charged with theft by shoplifting.

The CCSO said in an incident report obtained by PEOPLE that they were notified of the case by a Walmart in Woodstock that had built a shoplifting case against the suspect. The store alleged that the 47-year-old had gone to the store several times between Nov. 2 and Dec. 31, 2025.

A Walmart employee claimed to sheriffs that Shaw “would stack items on top of each other” and scan only “one of them.” She would then place both items in a bag or shopping cart and “bypass all points of sale and leave the store.”

The assistant principal stole about 98 items — totaling $943.97 — within the two months that she had been going to the store, the Walmart employee alleged in the incident report. 

The suspect was seen leaving the store in a gray Jeep or a gray pick-up truck during different days, according to cameras stationed in the parking lot. However, the cameras were unable to identify a license plate number for the vehicles. 

Officers eventually identified Shaw as the woman involved in the case and found the vehicles — a 2018 gray Ford F150 and a 2020 gray Jeep Grand Cherokee — at her home that matched the descriptions and the photos provided by the Walmart employee. 

Walmart requested that charges be brought forward against Shaw and sought to have her “criminally trespassed” from the store, per the CCSO. She was arrested and booked into jail, but was released on the same day on a bond of $4,875.

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Shaw worked as an assistant principal at Free Home Elementary in 2024, according to Fox5 Atlanta, CBS News and The Cherokee Tribune. The Cherokee County School District confirmed to the outlets in a statement that Shaw had been an employee at the school, but has since been placed on “administrative leave.”

“Immediately upon these allegations being reported, the employee was placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of internal and law enforcement investigations,” the school district told the outlets in a statement. “Maintaining the safety and security of our students and staff is our top priority and inappropriate conduct will never be tolerated.”

The Cherokee County School District did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

Shaw has worked in the education industry for over two decades after starting her career as a fifth-grade teacher in North Carolina, according to CBS News. She taught across several states including Florida, before moving to Georgia in 2006.