When the topic of workplace violence arises, visions of a disgruntled former co-worker or a lone social worker on a house call may come to mind. However, armed robbery also falls under workplace violence.
Incidents of workplace violence often occur in places where money is exchanged, in isolated work sites with few employees present, or at night with low visibility.
A Feb. 5, 2024 report by the Washington State Fatality Assessment & Control Evaluation (FACE) Program on a lone gas station clerk who was shot and killed as two masked men robbed the business is a tragic example of this fact.
Left alone to run gas station in rural area
The 30-year-old clerk worked in the gas station for his aunt and uncle who had owned the business for three years. He had been in the U.S. for about a year, having moved from his home country to learn how to run his own business. His aunt and uncle provided him with room, board and transportation.
The gas station was located in a rural area near an interstate highway. It was open daily from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
On May 3, 2023, the clerk worked with his uncle until 4 p.m. when the uncle had to leave to run some errands. The uncle returned but then received a call that required him to leave again. This meant that the clerk would be left alone to run the gas station until his uncle returned to pick him up when the store closed.
This wasn’t the first time he’d been left alone to run the store, with his uncle feeling comfortable enough with the situation to allow him access to the store’s safe where the cash till was placed at closing time.
Clerk shot in the chest while struggling with gunman
At 8:45 p.m., the clerk was restocking shelves in the gas station’s convenience store when two men wearing masks and gloves entered through the front door. One of the men held a shotgun with an extended magazine while the other had a bag and flex cuffs.
The man with the gun aimed it at the clerk, who was walking toward the cash register. At some point during his walk to the cash register, the clerk turned and attempted to wrestle the shotgun out of the gunman’s hands. The other masked man joined the struggle for the gun, which eventually went off.
As the two men fled the store in a pickup truck, a passerby saw them fleeing and called 9-1-1. First responders found the clerk dead from a single shotgun wound to the chest. Multiple cameras inside and outside of the gas station recorded the incident.
Police caught the two robbers and an accomplice the next morning.
Employer didn’t have workplace violence prevention program
Investigators found that the employer:
- didn’t have an accident prevention program or separate workplace violence prevention program policies or training, and
- had discussed robbery scenarios with the clerk and told him not to resist robbers.
The investigation also revealed that the gas station had never been robbed before.
6 ways to avoid similar incidents
To avoid a similar incident, FACE Program investigators recommended:
- developing a written workplace violence prevention program with store-specific standard operating procedures for emergencies and robberies
- ensuring that the workplace violence prevention program includes initial and refresher training as well as program assessment and enhancement requirements
- conducting a store security analysis to identify hazards, conditions, operations and situations that could lead to violence
- following OSHA’s recommendations for workplace violence prevention programs in late-night retail establishments
- avoiding working alone, and
- improving store layout, access, lighting, video surveillance, cash limit signage, cash control methods and incident tracking.
