Circle-K worker fired for defending himself, co-worker as video shows 4 would-be robbers ramming store with SUV
Kendrick Watson, a six-year employee at a Circle K in Stow, Ohio, was working the overnight shift on Nov. 2 when four men in stolen minivans rammed the storefront repeatedly around 3:30 a.m.
The impact shattered the glass entrance and knocked an ATM loose. Masked suspects then exited the vehicles and moved toward the store.
Watson, lawfully armed, fired seven shots, causing the men to flee the scene.
Police later arrested one suspect, Peirion D. Jackson, 25, of Cleveland, who was on parole for a prior robbery and linked to a gang, according to a report from WKYC.
Jackson now faces charges including robbery. Stow police and the city law department confirmed Watson’s actions were lawful and that he will not be charged with a crime.
After the incident, Circle K took Watson off the schedule under its no-weapons policy, according to the Akron Beacon Journal. He described the company’s response as disappointing after years of reliable work, including long stretches of consecutive shifts.
The company has not publicly explained its decision in detail beyond the policy.
Watson acted to protect himself and a coworker when a group that had already used a vehicle as a battering ram advanced on the store.
The alternative was to wait and see whether the men intended only property damage or something worse. Police treated the use of force as justified, while the employer treated the possession of the firearm that stopped the attack as disqualifying.
Overnight clerks at convenience stores are frequent targets precisely because they are isolated and the payoff can be quick.
When a company signals that employees who stop a violent attack will lose their jobs, it reduces the chance that the next clerk will be armed or willing to resist. Criminals notice patterns, so a store known for punishing self-defense becomes a softer target than one where resistance is possible.
Circle K has not increased the security of its employees by removing Watson. It has advertised that resistance carries a personal cost while the risk of attack remains.
Watson did not create the danger. He interrupted it. By rewarding those who caused the risk and penalizing the person who stopped it, Circle K turns a supposedly neutral application of the rules on its head.
Instead, it creates an incentive structure that makes the next overnight shift far riskier for whoever is left behind the counter.
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Circle K worker speaks out after firing seven shots during attempted ATM theft
Stow Circle K worker speaks out after firing shots during attempted ATM theft
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