Store clerk grabs robber’s gun, fight breaks out, clerk shoots robber, robber still tries to grab cash drawer, clerk tackles robber, robber flees. All on video.
This robber picked the wrong store at the wrong time. And everything that happened was caught on store video, as reported by WTVQ-TV.
Zara Adil was behind the counter at Discount Tobacco Zone in Lexington, KY, when two masked men entered the store. One walked behind the counter, showed a gun and demanded cash.
Adil opened the cash drawer. Right before the robber started to empty the cash drawer, he laid his gun on the counter, and Adil grabbed it.
The other robber ran off. The robber who had the gun attacked Adil, and during the scuffle, Adil shot him in the shoulder.
Adil told the robber she would let him go if he didn’t take any money, but the robber made one last grab for the cash.
That’s when Adil attacked him, and the robber fled without the money.
OSHA guidelines
While there are no OSHA regulations regarding the specifics of workplace violence prevention, the agency does provide guidelines.
OSHA’s publication, Recommendations for Workplace Violence Prevention Programs in Late-Night Retail Establishments, suggests that these businesses:
- improve a clerk’s visibility inside and directly outside the store by not placing tall displays in front of windows
- provide surveillance equipment such as video cameras
- control customers’ access to the payment counter, and
- limit the availability of cash through use of drop safes and by prohibiting transactions with bills over $20.
Also, workers shouldn’t resist a robbery. You can see in the video that Adil opened the register to allow the robber to take cash. The situation escalated only after the robber laid his gun down.
The first priority is personal safety – of the employees and customers (people waiting in line at the store didn’t deter the robbers in this case).
OSHA has issued citations to convenience stores in connection with workplace violence.
On May 20, 2012, a clerk was working alone at a Whip-In store in Garland, TX.
A robber entered, cleaned out the cash register, doused the clerk with gasoline and set her on fire. The employee died a week later from burns over 40% of her body.
Police made an arrest and charged the suspect with capital murder.
OSHA conducted investigtations at four convenience stores owned by TMT Inc. in the Dallas area, including the Whip-In in Garland.
Each store was cited with violating OSHA’s general duty clause for failing to provide a workplace free from recognized hazards likely to cause serious injury or death, specifically, workplace violence. The four serious citations totaled $19,600.