Woman finds unusual locking on women’s restroom doors near Texas A&M. She checks the men’s toilet but didn’t find any: ‘400 women go missing in this area’

A woman visiting a gas station near Texas A&M University said she found a locking device installed on the outside of the women’s restroom door, according to a series of videos she posted on TikTok. The woman, identified in the videos as Shelby, said the device appeared to lock the door from the outside, trapping anyone inside the restroom with no way to open it from within.

Shelby said in her videos that she checked the men’s restroom door at the same gas station and did not find a similar device installed. She said the gas station is an Exxon location in College Station, near the Texas A&M campus, and that she called employees over to witness the lock after noticing it.

The videos, which appear to have circulated widely online, drew reactions from other TikTok users who commented on the posts. Some commenters urged Shelby to report the situation to local authorities, while others speculated about possible explanations for the lock.

She said gas station employees reacted with concern when she pointed out the lock

In her first video, Shelby said she went into the restroom while running an errand and heard what she described as an electronic locking sound as the door began to close behind her. She said she stopped the door before it fully shut and noticed a rectangular device mounted at the top of the door on the outside.

Shelby said she brought a coworker into the store to show him the device and that two gas station employees appeared to watch her as she examined it. She claimed that when she unlocked the device, the employees relocked it, though she did not provide direct evidence of this happening. She said she asked her coworker to stand outside the restroom door to make sure she would not become trapped inside.

According to Shelby, when she began recording video on her coworker’s phone, the employees approached and told her group that recording was not allowed inside the store. She said this reaction made her more concerned about the situation. 

In a follow-up video, Shelby said she called the Bryan Police Department to report the lock. She said a police officer told her the gas station manager explained the lock was installed to keep out a group of men the manager described as Hispanic, who allegedly caused damage to the women’s restroom during lunch hours.

Shelby said this explanation did not make sense to her, since the lock could reportedly still be opened from the outside by anyone, including the group the manager said they were trying to keep out. In another case, a Texas intern was using the restroom at work when men allegedly tried to break into her locked stall.

Shelby said the responding officer agreed with her that the situation seemed unusual, but told her he did not have the authority to require the business to remove or relocate the lock. She said the officer described the call as the first of its kind he had handled.

In a later video, Shelby said someone contacted the local fire marshal’s office about the lock after her videos gained attention online. She said the fire marshal’s office visited the gas station and required employees to remove the device. Shelby did not identify who contacted the fire marshal or provide official confirmation from the fire marshal’s office regarding the visit or removal. A similar incident involved a Kentucky woman who spotted a big red button in a gas station bathroom.

A separate TikTok user who reacted to Shelby’s videos claimed in her own video, “Reports claim that over 400 women go missing in this area every year.” 

Throughout her videos, Shelby said she based her concerns on what she described as unusual behavior from the gas station employees rather than concrete evidence of wrongdoing. She said she wanted to bring attention to the situation in case her suspicions were accurate, while acknowledging she could be wrong about the intent behind the lock.

Comments on Shelby’s videos showed a range of reactions. A user named Jessica wrote, “one step further – report the gas station to the city,” while a user named Bobbie Yocum commented, “These owners/workers need to be investigated ASAP!!!!!” Another commenter wrote, “Im glad they removed it, but I hope the police investigates everyone that works there because that is definitely suspicious!!!” 

Another user commented, “It’s crazy how this isn’t suspicious enough to investigate automatically… but a black man with a phone in his hoodie or a black kid walking home with a candy bar is always met with deadly force.” A commenter wrote, “I Traffik, it’s based on a true story about a trafficking ring that was here in Cali. Cops were in on it just saying.”

As of the most recent video, Shelby said the lock had been removed from the restroom door, but she said she still felt uneasy about the situation and encouraged people in the area to remain cautious when visiting the location.