An Oklahoma 7-Eleven clerk was fired after using a firearm to protect herself from a customer who attacked her. The 7-Eleven clerk shot the customer after he tried to strangle her.
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However, she used her own weapon, which violated 7-Eleven policy. Speaking with KOKH, former clerk Stephanie Dilyard said she ahd been working in the early hours of November 14. That’s when a man tried to pay with a counterfeit $100 bill.
When Dilyard questioned the money’s authenticity, the man begame aggressive and threatened her.
“He threatened me, and said he was gonna slice my head off, and that’s when I tried to call the police,” she recalled. The man then rushed the 7-Eleven clerk and began to try to choke her.
“I tried to run off, but he grabbed his hands around my neck, and pushed me out of the counter space, and that’s when I pulled out my gun, and I shot him,” she said.
Dilyard shot suspect, Kenneth Thompson, in the stomach. Police ended up charging him with assault and battery as well as violating parole and attempting to use counterfeit currency.
7-Eleven Clerk Fired
Although authorities ruled Dilyard practiced self defense, the company still fired her.
“They said that they were going to separate from employment because of a violation of policy,” said Dilyard.
“This was a situation where I felt like I was put into a corner between choosing between my job, and my life, and I’m always going to choose my life because there’s people that depend on me. Just, ‘I’m going, I’m going home,’ you know. I need to be here for my kids,” she also said.
She believes that 7-Eleven should do a better job of protecting its workers.
“If I’ve known that there’s a potential that somebody is for real on taking my life away that I will do whatever it takes, and I hope that women see that, and they’ll do the same thing,” she said. “You have a right to defend yourself.”
Following the attack, the clerk criticized the company.
“We have no security, and we are not allowed to carry self-defense weapons, including mace,” she wrote. “That’s is why I decided to carry in the first place.”