A gas station convenience store clerk noticed a suspicious man as soon as he came inside the store. The suspect went to the counter, pulled a gun, and demanded all the money. The employed complied but as he turned to leave she grabbed her gun from under the counter and shot him in the shoulder.
The suspect kept going out of the store then got into a car with a female driver. They drove off but got into an accident near a hospital. He was later flown to another hospital. His condition is not known.
The store clerk was allowed to finish her shift.
A couple of things with this one. Having the gun under the counter is not the same as having it on your person. Once the suspect has his gun on the store employee it’s extremely risky to try to reach under the counter to get it without getting shot by the robber. At that point, it is likely best not to resist as this employee did and hope for the best. Barring the robber being distracted enough to give you time to get to your gun there isn’t much else you can do.
Hopefully, that gun was in some sort of quick access safe. Otherwise any time the employee steps away from the counter that gun is basically up for grabs.
More troubling in this case is that she shot the suspect as he was leaving. She said on the news video:
“As he turns to walk out the door I shoot him”.
This seems to imply that she shot him in the back though that info was not available. It also seems to imply that any threat the suspect posed to the employee was over when she shot him.
While many may applaud her actions, the reason she was able to finish her shift at the store and was not arrested and charged with attempted murder was that this happened in Alabama and not in a less gun-friendly state. Of course, these things are always at the discretion of the local County Attorney’s office.
Why would I suggest that? Because once the armed robber turns away, the window of imminence closes. A deadly force defense is only justified when facing an imminent deadly force threat. Once the threat is no longer imminent deadly force is no longer justified. If the in-store video shows her shooting the suspect in the back, she is at the mercy of the prosecutor.
One last thing; never ever give an interview to the news media right after the incident. While she appeared very calm and matter of fact about the whole thing, save any statements for authorities in the presence of your attorney.
