What some called a heroic save, Walgreens has found reason to terminate the job of a night-shift pharmacist. Jeremy Hoven fired his handgun during an armed robbery at a store in Benton Township, Mich. and was subsequently fired.

His coworker, a manager on duty that night, thanked him with a card and included a picture of his four children, bu Hoven, who has a permit to carry concealed weapons, was given the boot after two masked gunmen fled the Walgreens when faced with shots from his gun, reports The Herald Palladium.

He says he fired three or four shots from his revolver during the incident at 4:30 a.m. a few weeks ago. His lawyer is looking into whether or not he should pursue a wrongful termination lawsuit. The county prosecutor says he’s reviewed police reports and store security video and says Hoven did nothing criminal.

Walgreens most likely doesn’t want its employees carrying guns, but does potentially saving the lives of the two managers and cashier in the store maybe change things?

Hoven saw a manager run into a storeroom, his first tip that something was wrong, followed by a gunman running down the aisle.

“The first thing I tried to do was dial 911 but I couldn’t get it done,” Hoven said. “Within seconds he was over the counter. And I’m looking at the wrong end of a 9-millimeter (gun). He was holding it gangster-style” – sideways.

The robber jumped over the counter and was within a few feet of Hoven, in front of a cinder block wall. So Hoven decided to pull his gun and fired three to four shots. The gunman then tried to fire back but his gun didn’t work for some reason, causing the robbers to flee the store.

“I was reacting out of fear, and the adrenaline was taking over. … You could have probably taken my pulse from my breath because my heart was beating that much,” he said.

Hoven claims he doesn’t know of any specific Walgreens policy that bars employees from lawfully carrying a concealed weapon at work. He says he was surprised to be fired, and had only expected a reprimand and a transfer.

“I have more grief over what I got from Walgreens than what I had to do to save my life … and save my co-workers,” he said.

*Thanks for the tip, Stephen!

Walgreens fires armed worker [Herald Palladium]

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