UP Police Continue to Investigate CVS Shooting
University Park police continue to investigate after a CVS employee was shot in the shopping center in the 3000 block of Mockingbird Lane in November.
University Park assistant chief Jim Savage said the $25,000 reward from CVS remains active as of Dec. 27 and people can submit tips at www.solveacrime.com or by calling the police department at 214-987-5370. Savage said the woman who was shot, Orelia Hollins, and her son, Cairo, are doing well.
University Park Police reported Hollins, 29, was shot in the waist by a masked robber in the store at 6:39 a.m. Nov. 2.
The robber reportedly fired two shots, hit Hollins, and fled after another employee struggled to open the register.
University Park Fire Department paramedics took Hollins to Presbyterian Hospital right after the shooting, where she was admitted to surgery immediately upon arrival and gave birth to a boy. Assistant police chief Jim Savage said authorities visited Hollins recently and she and the baby are improving as of Nov. 9, but are expected to remain hospitalized for a while. Savage said the timing of the robbery — early in the morning on a Saturday — is consistent with someone who would want to strike when there wouldn’t be many people in the store.
“We don’t get (a lot of ) robberies (in University Park),” Savage said.
Guy Bellaver, owner of Roly Poly Sandwiches in the same shopping center, announced shortly after the shooting that the shop would help raise money for Hollins.
Bellaver said staff members would donate their tips up to $1,000, he would match, and he hopes the restaurant’s corporate office would contribute as well.
“I came in to prepare (orders Saturday), saw the caution tape… went around, talked to other managers (nearby) and pieced things together,” he said. “It’s a small community here.”
Wendy Birdsall said she’s worked at the sandwich shop for the last eight years and knew Hollins.
“Highland Park, SMU, (University Park) is like a bubble. This kind of thing happens in east Dallas, where I live. It doesn’t happen here,” Birdsall said. “It hit home.”
