Pharmacist shoots at robber, gets fired.

Post by **TheCatt** » Sat May 28, 2011 11:31 am

In Benton Township, Michigan, two armed robbers wearing masks burst into a near-deserted Walgreens at 4:30 a.m. To pharmacist Jeremy Hoven, it was a prescription for trouble. So he filled it with hot lead.

Drawing his own gun, he fired at the attackers and drove them off, saving not just himself but two Walgreens co-workers as well as the pharmacy's valuable prescription drugs.

By way of saying thanks, Walgreens fired him last week.

Hoven, in an interview with the Benton Township Herald-Palladium, said he had acted out of fear. "The adrenaline was taking over," he said. "You could have probably taken my pulse from my breath, because my heart was beating that much." Only 42 seconds elapsed, start to finish. All the action was captured on surveillance video.

Before firing, Hoven first tried dialing 911. But before he could complete the call, the first of the two robbers had vaulted over a counter and was standing five feet away from him. That's when the pharmacist went for his own gun and opened fire.

Post by **GORDON** » Sat May 28, 2011 11:45 am

Was it a 24 hour store and there could be customers around?

Post by **thibodeaux** » Sat May 28, 2011 1:53 pm

Look at it from the store's perspective. Those robbers might sue THEM, and some idiot judge would probably allow it.

Post by **TheCatt** » Sat May 28, 2011 2:00 pm

If you are committing a crime and someone harms/kills you, it's your fault. That's how it should be.

Post by **GORDON** » Sat May 28, 2011 2:06 pm

I'm all for the execution of thieves caught in the act, I am, however, a bit hesitant to support a drug store employee opening fire to protect some methadone when there could be a woman in there trying to get some medicine for her infant with a fever. Rounds ricochet.

Which is why I asked if it was a 24 hour store with customers in there.

Malcolm · Post by **Malcolm** » Sat May 28, 2011 3:58 pm

I'd still take my chances with the gun. Still a legit response. Robber made a threatening motion and was at point blank range. Ricochets might kill someone. But hey, so might thieves. When they make an insta-effect tranq, I'll be the first on board to bitch about lethal, high-velocity bits of flying metal dancing around on a few surfaces in an unpredictable way. Until that day, you can use the right tool for the job.

This is why you practice putting shots center mass at the shooting range and why you carry a gun and ammo appropriate to your potential shooting environments. They make rounds designed to break apart in the target (whether or not they're only available for cops, who knows). They make guns designed for precision, close quarters shooting.

Clerk may or may not have been this prepared. However, I'm not erring on the side of being nice when I'm determining whether or not some yell-happy masked dude bursting into my pharmacy at 4:30am and jumping the counter is intending to rob me versus kill me and maybe everyone else in the general vicinity.

Unless he stood over their prone bodies and maliciously emptied more rounds than he needed to, whoever fired him is a douche.

Post by **GORDON** » Sat May 28, 2011 5:33 pm

He said Hoven fired only to maintain "a safe zone" for himself. The only thing behind the robber, according to Hoven, was a cinderblock wall.

Township police Lt. Delman Lange, after reviewing surveillance video, told the local paper, "If it was me, I would have done the same thing."

Eh, I'd have fired.

I can't see whether or not he hit the guy.