A convenience store clerk in Albuquerque, New Mexico, has been suspended for two weeks after she used a firearm to defend herself during an armed robbery.
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Jennifer Wertz told KOAT 7 that armed robberies occur frequently in that area of Albuquerque, and she usually carries a gun while walking to her car alone at night.
After hearing that a 7/11 down the street had just been robbed, Wertz put her gun in her pocket. Soon after a man entered the Circle K convenience store with a handgun and demanded the money from the cash register.
Though Wertz says she wasn’t behind the counter when the man barged in, he soon directed his demands—and the muzzle of his weapon—at her.
“He pointed the gun at my face, I grabbed my gun from my pocket, I cocked it and I shot,” Wertz said.
Though Wertz may have saved her life and that of her co-workers, her actions broke company policy.
“We are not to chase or provoke. We are just supposed to stand there and give them what they want and they leave,” she said.
But on Monday she decided she wouldn’t be a victim any longer.
“I’m sick and tired of being a sitting duck,” Wertz concluded.
Jennifer Wertz is tired of being a “sitting duck.” (Photo: KRQE/Youtube)
Police said the would-be robber—a 23-year-old named Ferron Mendez—was shot in the torso but is expected to survive. He’ll be charged once he is released from the hospital, though he does not have a prior criminal record in New Mexico.
According to the Center for Problem Oriented Policing (CPOP), “Convenience store employees suffer from high rates of workplace homicide, second only to taxicab drivers.” If they survive the experience, robbery victims can also suffer psychological and emotional trauma.
The CPOP notes that, as Wertz indicated, convenience stores have high rates of “repeat victimization.” If a robber is successful, he or she may try the same store again or tell other robbers about the store. If the store fails to implement new safety measures, that location may be robbed on a regular basis.
Store employees can use a variety of tactics to discourage robbers before the situation ever gets violent. One strategy—known as “putting the robber on stage”—has employees greet customers and establishing eye contact with everyone who enters the building.
One comprehensive study of convenience store robberies concludes that “the behavior of clerks may be the most significant factor in determining the extent of injury that results during these robberies.”
I’ll channel a line from the 1986 movie ‘Alien’, “Maybe we could build a fire. Sing a couple of songs, huh?? Why don’t we try that”…. Perhaps follow suit (pun intended) and compel all convenience store workers nationwide to wear the corporate standard orange safety vest for better targeting/ranging ability on behalf of the criminal element, and we might even add a trendy logo that looks like ‘Whack A Mole’ or ‘Pop Up Pirate’ to create a meaningful challenge and add to the merriment of an otherwise mundane down home urban criminal assault . In grade school during the late 50’s we were often told what we had and how great the country was, interspaced with the pledge of allegiance and a morning prayer (in between somewhere was nuclear bomb blast survival practice). Even way back then we were being taught to cower in fear of known enemies for the greater good of corporate world peace. Don’t be a victim of bullying we were told (tell on them instead like a little bitch), don’t dare punch them in the mouth or suffer the consequence of a trip to see the principal. Fast forward about ten years, fire fights in dark jungles far away from home, rules of engagement (rules supposed to curtail wanton killing yuk,yuk) that caused indecision at the worst possible time and yes a ‘Mattie Mattel’ looking jam-up with no forward assist didn’t help either. Moving on all to be heard is “No fighting someone will get hurt” even if it is for the preservation of life and property. The cops are asked NOT to defend the innocent victims of crime or themselves. So here we are, here and now…. Jennifer was able to Transend the mindset of the gutless weak and is an example of there being a glimmer of hope for future reason. She should be rewarded with a gift certificate for the best self defense firearm available and a session with the best tactical instructors as well. As for circle K and their ilk if one has to take a crap their parking lot would be a good place to consider.
Good on her ! Im guessing that the robber is probably an Illegal ,,, thats why hes got no record in New Mexico
Note to clerk: quit that piece of crap job and go work for the Albuquerque PD. REFUSE to be a victim!
Chester, just to let you know….. Valero is now Circle K so yes we have many of them here.
Instead of suspending her for two weeks, Circle K should give this woman a two-week PAID VACATION, a raise, and a promotion! She did the right thing; but she needs to work on her aim (the perp survived).
…..She should have been given a Bonus and a raise!!,…..
Thanks to bull-shit corporate policies like this that have emboldened criminals in this country. She should be given a raise for protecting their interest as well as protecting the lives of others.
I used to work for a privately owned grocery store chain; the policy was to prosecute all shop lifters. Then the company went corporate. The last time I and a coworker busted a shoplifter, we were reprimanded and told not to confront shoplifters! Now people are being told by corporations they cannot protect themselves.
It shouldn’t be a suspension. It should be paid time off to recuperate from the stresses of defending oneself. Businesses that set their employees as targets, should not complain when their employees exercise their right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”. If a business wants to punish its employees for this, customers should take their business elsewhere!
I could offer another factor; when the clerk proactively resists a robber, that may trigger future attacks by other thugs looking for “payback”. It could also trigger retaliation, overtly or covertly by the arrested or wounded robber. If the robber is killed, it may result in “get even” action by the robber’s family and friends.
As we have been reading, the thugs are brutally active; and I would suggest that the media not publicize these encounters. Publicity may lead to retaliation focused on the defender.
Shoulda, coulda, woulda… There also have been murders of clerks AFTER giving perps what they want so no witnesses. Your argument is just another “what if”.
Maybe after the young lady bagged up the money and next week’s groceries, she could have dropped to her knees and serviced the dirtball, Dennis Orr.
These so called thugs are just a bunch of hopped up punks with a gun that meet no rhyme or need no reason to murder, rape, rob or cause serious bodily harm to every lamb they meet.
And even though you maybe only worrying the dirtball, Dennis Orr, the victim in this case will have to re-live that horror of having a gun pointed at her head and in her face every day and every night
So I applaud this youg lady for protecting herself from serious harm and death.
And be sure that everyone I know will NOT BE PATRONIZING, who I hope is her former employer. But I do hope her former employer is picking up the counseling bills necessay with the psychologist/psychiatrist she’ll need after such a traumatic incident.
Best of luck Jennifer !!!
Some people are willing to be sheep. Some the wolf. Others the sheep dog
You sir are a wussy. Let them do it to you. Youre the kind they like. You probably would offer them your wallet as well. Maybe tell them to take something to eat in case they dont have a mommy or daddy at home to cook for them. Maybe you tell them about counseling. Why dont you just give them your home address?
You seem like someone who would be so paralyzed by fear you would give them anything they wanted including your own damned life.
You’re definitely over-thinking this one. Anything, anything at all, COULD happen. In a country of 300 million, it’s a safe bet that “anything” is indeed happening all the time, somewhere.
A clerk shooting a robber might cause retaliation, or it might create a robbery-free city, or anything in between. Studies and statistics on things like this are beyond ridiculous, because we’re talking about the individual actions of tens of millions of people. What triggers one guy, may deter a thousand, and you can study it till the cows come home and never be able to prove that number.
A division of 15,000 troops suffers one fatality. The division perceives, reports, and can prove by any normal statistical measure, that casualties were “light.” There was no serious opposition. The enemy is cowed, beaten, on the run.
But back to that one dead guy for a moment. For him, it was World War Three, the most devastatingly total war ever waged. His family certainly feels that way. He’s too dead to feel anything. Try convincing his family that everything is going smoothly, and good luck with that.
No convenience store clerk anywhere in the country knows what could happen in the next heartbeat. It’s called uncertainty. We little people feel it, and take countermeasures as best we can. Slick pols and lobbyists are always acting certain, and they can back it up with statistics proving anything they want. If you’re that clerk staring death in the eye, however, statistics don’t mean a damn thing. You’re the exception to the rule, all right. But if the criminal decides to pull the trigger, then rules, exceptions, averages, means, medians, trends, percentages or fractions don’t matter a damn to you. You’re the guy facing the gun the pols and lobbyists said you’d never face. You are DEAD. Game over.
In America, one of our founding concepts is that an individual can and must seek his own destiny, and that includes many implied and specified rights to keep yourself alive, to improve your own personal odds. American traditionalists embrace reality and its uncertainties, and take an active role in protecting themselves, their families, and their communities. We won’t accept any other way. It’s a “natural right” specifically protected from federal governmental interference in the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution. Everybody on the American frontier, through the centuries, understood that free men faced a variety of potential threats, and had to take measures to meet the challenge. People who need the government to handle everything need to live in countries that operate that way. Ours doesn’t. Our constitutional republic was born with rifle in hand.
I concur with your views. That’s the core value instilled in me by my up-bringing in the USA. I have been to various other nations and none of them could come near where we are as a free nation. Like the NRA says all the time, Freedom is Not Free. We paid for it with our wallets and lives. Most of us have family history of defending our country with our lives. I am no exception and I am proud of it. Let’s keep what is ours.
Dennis, we aren’t all gutless turds like you. If some punk’s thug buddies want to come after me for payback I’ll shoot them too.
I think that the point is that the attempted robber had not been arrested yet for any crime – NOT THAT HE HAD NOT COMMITTED THEM!
Ms. Wertz deserves a bonus, not a suspension! Maybe we should push for companies to be responsible for the safety of their employees – that would help.
Well, usually Police Departments don’t charge a person who is hospitalized until after treatment to avoid incurring any medical bills while the perp is being treated. But, they will usually have an office stand by in case he is released or tries to leave.
I wonder what the store/company would have to say to her family if they had carried her out in a body bag?
They would say, “oh, sorry, its our policy not not harm potential murderers trying to turn their lives around. “
EGG F^$@##G ZACKLY
Great job young lady, I for one will never walk into a circle K again and wish others would do the same,
I don’t believe there are any circle K’s in Texas; but if there was I would boycott their sorry asses.
Chester, just to let you know….. Valero is now Circle K so yes we have many of them here.
Good for Her, hope She gets a better higher paying job. As for Circle K, “go to Hell”
Exactly, they obviously don’t care about their employees protecting themselves. How pathetic is that.
The article is incorrect…she was fired.
The only logical reason for the store policy is that it doesn’t want lawsuits filed by the crooks. If it prohibits its employees carrying gun on the store premise, then it has the defense of the employee acting outside the scope of her employment. Of course trying to convince an armed robber not to shoot you is a pathetic defense, but the only one offered by the employer.
I hope she spends her time off looking for another job!
I was pretty surprised when I read the story. This is a convenience store in the southwestern U.S. (not the west coast idiots, but the American southwest). Guns are a part of the culture. The right to defend yourself still stands there. I was wondering why Circle K would deny any employee to defend him/herself. So I looked up their corporate office.
THEY’RE A BUNCH OF FRIGGIN’ FRENCH CANADIANS! Their name shouldn’t be Couche-Tard, it should be RE-Tard!
Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc.
4204 Industriel Blvd.
Laval (Quebec) H7L 0E3
Phone : (450) 662-6632 or (800) 361-2612
Fax : (450) 662-6633
So… you have to clock out, shoot the scumbag, then clock back in so that your weren’t technically an employee at the time of the shooting. If the store is robbed on a regular basis, why hasn’t the ownership provided security for the employees?
Another store that I shall no longer be a customer.
“her actions broke company policy.”
Fk the company.
If the company does not provide armed guards. They should not have a problem with their employees arming themselves.
It’s a real shame. That the scumbag survived that is.
I for one am glad that citizens like her exist! We all need to be brave enough to stand up for our rights, even when it’s against the powers that be, even on the job!
for some reason the reporter had to mention that there was no prior arrests I’ll bet there won’t be any subsequent arrests either
If a store is robbed on a regular basis, we should not place all the blame on the store owner, but also lax socialist laws that let the criminals roam free. I’m glad she stood up for herself. More and more of these robbers are not leaving witnesses around to testify against them. Arm up and stand up people. The life you save will most likely be your own.
She should be given a two week vacation with pay!
A bonus, then a month’s paid trauma leave.
Hello
And some stock options, although their stock may be losing value in the near future. At least if my patronage counts for anything.