Serial Armed Robber From Amarillo Pleads Guilty to Robbery and Firearm Charges

An Amarillo man who violently robbed a Family Dollar store pleaded guilty today to robbery and firearm charges, announced U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Leigha Simonton.

Shane Ray Bursie, 36, was indicted in March 2023. He pleaded guilty today to one count of affecting commerce by robbery and one count of discharging a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.

The investigation began in August 2021 when the FBI and Amarillo Police Department investigated a string of armed robberies that occurred in the Amarillo area. During the investigation, Bursie was identified as a primary suspect, including of a violent robbery that occurred on October 23, 2022.

Court documents indicate that Bursie, armed with a revolver, robbed an Amarillo Family Dollar store on October 23, 2022. Burise approached the store clerk, grabbed her and forced her behind the counter with another employee. He pointed the revolver at the employees and demanded them to open the safe. While the cash register was being opened a customer ran out the front door, and Bursie shot at the customer, he missed and struck the glass door. Bursie grabbed approximately $1,349 in cash from the register, threw the register drawer off the counter and ran out the front door. Prior to running out the door, Bursie told one of the employees he would be back to shoot them.

Mr. Bursie now faces up to 20 years in federal prison on the robbery count and 10 years to life on the firearm count. His sentencing will be set at a later date.

The case was brought under the Project Safe Neighborhoods Initiative, a program that surges federal and local law enforcement resources to communities’ most violent neighborhoods in order to root out offenders and build positive relationships with victims and witnesses.

The Federal Bureau of Investigations and the Amarillo Police Department conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Joshua Frausto is prosecuting the case.