DAYTON, OHIO — A clerk at a Dayton Sonoco station was shot in the thigh after he drew his handgun to protect himself from an armed robber. A second employee at the location rushed out to protect the first but the armed robber had already fled the scene.
The robbery occurred around 11:15 p.m. Video surveillance released to WHIO News revealed the armed robber drew his gun and attempted to rob the store at gun point. The clerk, who had a permit to carry concealed, then pulled his own gun. An exchange of gunfire resulted in the robber escaping and the clerk nursing an injury.
The clerk was taken to a nearby hospital where he was treated for a non-life-threatening gunshot wound. A 911 call made by a second employee gave a general description of the suspect and alerted authorities to the incident.
It is not immediately clear whether or not the robber was injured in the exchange but no bystanders were injured.
That’s just a reality when dealing with armed conflict. When the bad guy already has his gun drawn and pointed at you, he has less to do than you do. You have to pull your gun, get it on target, and pull the trigger. All he has to do is squeeze the trigger. If anything, that clerk was lucky the robber was pointing down.
Does that mean we all need to roll over and play dead every time someone comes in to threaten our lives? Absolutely not. But it is a reality that you could be potentially fatally shot if you pull your gun. You could be shot anyways, even if you don’t do a darn thing.
The good news is that the clerk was okay and the robber was forced to flee. It’s doubtful that robber will ever be back. Anyone who escapes with his life intact is liable to want to keep it intact just a little longer.
As an employee in a gas station or convenience store, you’re in the unfortunate first line of fire for small and up-and-coming criminals. They see robbing a convenience store as almost a rite of passage and each bad guy doing it has a different disposition. Some may just want to hit the register and run. Others may want to stick around and do actual harm. Because there’s no way of knowing, we have to treat each and every case with the seriousness it deserves.
Carry every single day. Train how you intend to fight. And, whenever possible, cover each other’s backs. It’s a hard enough world out there, no need to give the bad guys any advantage they won’t already take themselves.
