“I was in fear of my life as soon as he walked through the door and I see the gun. Your heart just starts pounding,” says Devin McClean, a former Auto Zone employee.
Devin McClean decided to take action after recognizing the Fake Beard Bandit.
“I waited for him to go up toward the front, I ran out of the restroom, ran out to my truck where I keep my own personal weapon, grabbed my weapon, came back into the store and confronted the guy,” says McClean.
“When I yelled “freeze” and I said “Stop, drop the weapon,” he threw his hands up with his gun still in his hand he started running,” says McClean. “I felt like it was my responsibility to step in.”
Please take the time to contact AutoZone if you disagree with their action.
This. I told them unless they reinstate him, give him a raise, and change their absurd corporate policy to allow self defense, I’ll be giving Napa and Advance my business from now on. (I was anyway. Autozone is for hip-hoppers and their clown cars)
Autozone’s policy towards firearms is ridiculous. The article is partly correct about not allowing them (concerning employees) in the store. They don’t even allow you to have them in your vehicle while on a store parking lot. I know. A while back I ran one of their stores. Wasn’t exactly my dream job.
I can understand why they don’t want employees to carry on the job. One accident, they get sued badly.
But in their privately owned vehicles? There’s no reasonable risk of litigation because of that.
And as far as what mr. McClean did, he’s a community hero, who broke no law. And he wasn’t carrying on the job, but just happened to have his piece in his vehicle. He didn’t even fire a shot. 100% by the book successful arrest.
Actually, he even let the dude leave when the dude ran, which was the right thing to do since he’s not law enforcement and the situation being what it was.
There’s a million things I can get sued for at my retail business. My employees being armed is less of a concern than most of those. I put it right in my employee handbook that concealed carry was allowed with clearance by myself or my designated representative. That employee handbook has been seen by my insurance company and they didn’t say a thing. Several of us carry every day at work. Anybody seeking employment with me is informed of my firearm policy during the interview process to allow them not to continue with the interview if they have an issue with it
Somebody needs to give this guy a job. Somebody better than Autozone.
Nothing in that store is worth him or anyone else dying for. If I owned the store I don’t want my employees risking their lives for a couple hundred bucks. When I was young and dumb and worked retail I thought the same way you guys do. You want to stand up to a robber in your house or on the street, that’s on you. How much cash is in a register nowadays?
You want to be a mall ninja, at least sign up to be one.
And this Walmart delta force stuff does go wrong, like the idiots at Walmart that suffocated a guy.
Yes, it’s your store and you have every right to fire him. There is no crystal ball to determine what the robber with a GUN would have done. He could have easily shot and killed everyone in the store even after the money was turned over and a tragedy would have occurred. It turns out Mr. McCleans actions prevented that from happening in the first place and only in this instance. A different time and place, a different outcome. That’s life. I’m glad it turned out well. I believe Mr. McClean will have no problem finding future employment. He’s a standup guy.
