An Oklahoma woman says she was fired from her job at a 7-Eleven after shooting a customer who allegedly tried to pay with a counterfeit $100 bill and threatened her.
Stephanie Dilyard, 25, who has worked overnight shifts at the store for two years, said the incident occurred Thursday when the man, identified as 59-year-old Kenneth Thompson, allegedly attempted to pass a fake bill. Dilyard told local outlet KOKH that when she refused, Thompson tried to strangle her and threatened her life.
“He threatened me, and said he was gonna slice my head off, and that’s when I tried to call the police. He started throwing things at me, came behind the counter. 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,” Dilyard recounted.
Dilyard sustained minor injuries, including a scratch on her neck and burn marks on her finger from firing her gun. Thompson fled the scene, called 911, and was later arrested at a hospital. He faces multiple charges, including assault and battery, making threats, attempting to pass counterfeit money, and a felony parole violation.
Although Oklahoma’s self-defense law protects Dilyard, 7-Eleven allegedly terminated her for violating company policy by using her own firearm. “They said that they were going to separate from employment because of a violation of policy,” she told KOKH.
Dilyard, a mother of three, said she felt forced to choose between her life and her job. “If I’ve known that there’s a potential that somebody is for real on taking my life away [then] I will do whatever it takes, and I hope that women see that, and they’ll do the same thing. You have a right to defend yourself,” she said.
A GoFundMe campaign supporting Dilyard has raised more than $29,000 so far.