An Amazon delivery driver shot a knife-wielding attacker in self-defense this week and was subsequently “deactivated” by the online retail giant.
Amazon driver Gino Grove said he was making the rounds in a local neighborhood in Middletown, Ohio at 4 a.m. on a Sunday morning when a man ran at him with a large knife in his hand.
The attacker, later identified as Christopher Roberts, was reportedly shouting, “Knife fight! Knife fight!” as he charged the victim.
Grove had noticed the suspect shortly before, lurking around his car, and was therefore on high alert when he saw him coming, reports Fox19.
“I raise my firearm, and I’m trying to tell him ‘Stop! Stop!’ He’s like, ‘Knife fight! Knife fight!’ And he’s looking at me, got these bugged-out eyes, and he’s coming at me close,” Grove told the local Fox News affiliate.
Police say that the attacker was possibly under influence of a substance at the time of the attack.
When the perp kept running toward Grove, he let a round loose at the threat. It hit Roberts in the leg.
“Obviously, [The victim] was in fear. So in defense of himself, he was able to discharge a firearm,” Middletown Chief of Police David Birk told WNEM.
Grove says that even after the shot was fired, Roberts did not stop running at him. “I’m like, ‘Oh my goodness, this did not work on this man, he’s still coming, he has a knife in his hand, I’m about to get gutted out here.'”
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Petrified, Grove says while all of this was happening, all he wanted was to survive so he could see his family again.
The attacker did leave the scene without Grove having to fire an additional shot. Police found the suspect in a creek after he apparently tried to enter a sewer. Officers needed to taser Roberts before he could be handcuffed, according to reports.
Roberts was taken to a hospital and treated for his gunshot wound. But the drug-addled suspect didn’t stay for long.
When Roberts got up and walked out of the hospital, Chief Birk said, “Him walking away from the hospital kind of helped clarify the situation that the Amazon driver was just defending himself.”
Roberts was again picked up by the police and taken to another hospital. He is now being charged with felony assault.
When asked about it later, Grove said he was afraid for his life, “I had to fend for my life at that moment, because that guy was attacking me with a knife. He came at me with a knife. If I didn’t have my firearm, I wouldn’t be here today. I know that for a fact. I would not be here today. My family would have been planning a funeral.”
While Grove luckily survived unscathed, many delivery drivers are not so lucky.
According to xtown.la, the number of crimes committed against delivery workers has increased. Just from 2019 to 2020 there’s been a 56% spike, with at least 20% of those crimes being violent.
While Grove is not being charged for his lawful use of force, Amazon has “deactivated” him as a delivery driver.
USA Carry found a screenshot of Amazon’s policy, which states that delivery workers are not permitted to carry weapons. With violent crimes against delivery drivers on the rise, it’s time for Amazon to rethink its policy on the lawful bearing of arms for personal defense.
He should sue Amazon for failing to protect him.
Yeah Bob ,some people have to fkn work for a living. You can’t raise kids on air and water.
EXCELLENT! Bob, your response was great! Couldn’t of said it better myself!!!%
Amazon couldn’t care less about safety. They tout it everyday like they actually care, but everything they do is designed to avoid lawsuits, and not actually protect people. It’s absolutely absurd. There was an incident where a gentleman drove right into the warehouse in his personal car and threatened to shoot people if he didn’t get a van full of money (the guy wasn’t altogether right in the head). So what does the highly trained management do? They shut the exit freight door locking him inside… the man that just threatened to shoot everyone, now locked inside… with everyone else. Thankfully he ended up leaving without harm to anyone.
Did Amazon make an announcement to everyone about the event? Did they issue a statement with future training for managers and employees in the event of an active shooter?
Nope.
They did quite the opposite. The told NO ONE. And the ones that were there acted like it never happened and even lied about it.
Me? I told everyone I could.
Grew up in a family of delivery drivers, My brother that delivered bread was at his first store in the alley at 3am every morning behind the store (talk about always being aware of the bad around), if you ask most Produce deliveries OCCUR between midnight and 6am because the Produce guy has to clean it wash it and prep it so you can buy your damn salad on the way to work at 7am..
So YES real people deliver at night
These jackass corporations and their dumbass policies. Note the owners wont give up their guns- they have men with guns protecting them and their families 24 hours a day. Sorry, but suicide is not something I would agree to in order to get a job.
Mr. Grove , center mass , sir , center mass .
When are companies that have great business sense going to get common sense? People who are defending themselves come first. The top Execs. at these corporations have their deadly force once removed since they can afford armed security to shoot their “knife-wielding attackers” .
An ” AMAZON DELIVER DRIVER ” making his rounds at 4:00 AM !!!
OK …
The best thing he (Amazon delivery guy) delivered that day was a reminder “you don’t bring a knife to a gun fight” (even Obama knows that one, just ask him)!!!
Thank God he’s still alive to go and get a better job now!
So many things in the news are explained simply as someone being denied their Constitutional Rights because they are black, female, handicapped, or an alternative lifestyle person. It is time for every victim of crime of any kind, to come forward and sue for the violation of their Constitutional Right to carry a firearm for self defense. Shopping malls, parks, employers who deny someones access to self defense should be held accountable, and the best way to do that is win a multi-million dollar lawsuit.
This guy is awesome. He should get a job with the Uvaldi Texas police dept. They need someone with balls who aren’t afraid to use their gun to get the job done. Screw Amazon.
I guess Amazon, like so many others, would rather see an employee dead than defend themselves so the company can look good.
Employees are meat units that can be replaced. Disarmament policies are sacred. Whole Foods – of course, owned by Amazon – here in Colorado Springs used to have a “no open carry” rule, which everyone ignored. Now it’s no firearms, and they have unarmed rent-a-cops at the door specifically to turn away open carriers.
In large metropolitan areas, Amazon is delivers 24/7. Im in south Florida and I’ve received deliveries at approximately 1am and 5am on several occasions. I’m an Amazon junkie, and although the majority of my deliveries come during normal business hours, about once a month I get a middle of the night delivery.
The message from Amazon is clear. If you defend your life, then you will be punished. What kind of message is that to send to employees? Watch robbery go up now.
So the Police Chief wasn’t sure of the story until the perp had to be tased, then escape from a hospital, and recaptured?
What? The driver was out cruising around at 4 AM?? Making deliveries??
Yes Bob, it’s called a job.
If I recall, Amazon warehouse’s are a 24/7/365. You seem to doubt drivers story.
That’s your take away? You’re weird.
I’ve seen Amazon trucks as early as 5am so maybe this guy was trying to get a jump on his deliveries for the day! Businesses sometime need supplies early in the morning before they open for bsuiness.
Bless your heart Bob. My days start at 0300. I run from 600- 700 miles per day. 70 hours in 8 days then it starts all over again. Some people just exist. Some of us do what we love.
America runs/operates 24/7 365 days bob, where have you been bob, up in the clouds with Rocket Man Jeff basoff?