A convenience store employee who used a firearm to defend himself from a hatchet-wielding thief lost his job in Oregon because of the owners zero-tolerance police for weapons.
Here’s the video of the altercation:
From what I could see in that video, the store employee used the gun very responsibly. He didn’t have his finger on the trigger and it didn’t look like he ever pointed it at the man.
Here’s more from Fox News:
Oregon authorities are seeking a would-be thief who was armed with a hatchet when he tried to rob a convenience store, only to flee when the clerk drew a gun and called 911.
However, the clerk’s quick thinking cost him his job, with the president of Plain Pantry in Oak Grove explaining to local station KOIN-TV that the chain has a zero-tolerance policy for weapons.
He said employees are trained to de-escalate robbery situations to avoid injury, according to the station.
The Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office on Friday released surveillance video of the incident which took place April 28 at the store, seeking tips in identifying the suspect who fled empty-handed and without the 12-inch hatchet.
“We’d like to reunite you with the hatchet you left behind after the clerk responded with a handgun and a 911 call and you fled the scene,” Sgt. Marcus Mendoza said in a news release.
Mendoza said the suspect placed the hatchet on the counter and reportedly telling the clerk, “I’m sorry. I’ll leave.”
“The suspect got on his knees with his hands in the air, then abruptly fled the store,” he said.
The employee totally got a raw deal here. He not only saved his life but kept everything in the store safe as well.
The owner probably thinks that if the employee working the store doesn’t have a weapon that they won’t ever get shot or harmed. But we all know that’s not reality.
Also, if he’s gonna demand that his employees not carry any weapons to defend themselves, then he needs to put them behind a bulletproof window or something.
Otherwise at some point he’s gonna end up with injury, despite all the training in the world.