Convenience Store Clerk Fires Gun At Armed Robber, Gets Suspended For Two Weeks

A Circle K employee in Albuquerque, New Mexico, defended herself with a firearm on Monday. As a result of her actions, she has been suspended for two weeks.

Jennifer Wertz was scheduled to work until 10 p.m. on Monday. The idea of walking to her car at the end of her late-night shift made her feel unsafe, so she armed herself, according to KOAT.

Additionally, “Wertz put her gun in her pocket after she heard that another nearby convenience store was just robbed. She said she was not behind the counter when a man barged in with a gun.”

After the armed robber, now identified as Ferron Mendez, entered the store, he allegedly pointed his gun at Wertz. She pulled her gun and opened fire, hitting him in the torso. Mendez is currently in the hospital awaiting charges.

Circle K orders their employees “not to chase or provoke” armed robbers, and to simply “stand there and give them what they want,” according to Wertz. This didn’t sit well with the clerk, who told KOAT: “I’m sick and tired of being a sitting duck. He pointed the gun at my face …”

Wertz maintains that she was in compliance with New Mexico gun laws because her firearm was not concealed, but “visible from her hip.” She added that there had been a spate of robberies prior to the incident, and that Circle K had “done nothing to protect me, so I felt the need to protect myself.”

Both KOAT and New York Daily News attempted to contact Circle K management, but were unsuccessful.