Academy fires Asst. Mgr. who grabbed Handgun thief.

I

Ignition Override

New member
I've no luck with Copy and Paste, therefore, a few seconds on Google allows so you to read up on this incident in Tallahassee FL.

Police claim that the thug/thief planned to kill somebody with the handgun.

:(The...fired... Asst. Manager's family is forced to sell their house.

I called Academy G.O. at (281) 646-5081, but leaving a message was the only good option. If a huge flood of calls goes into their G.O., it could make a difference to the fired Asst. Manager, and allow common sense to dictate future situations.

I also called a local store where I've spend many hundreds of dollars. Had a polite chat with the Manager, and told him I realize that he didn't create the policy.

***Told people at both the G.O. and local level that I won't be back unless they rehire the guy in Tallahassee.*** Same total price to buy ammo online including shipping. "Gunbot".

Store policy matters not to me. The guy is a hero, and by Breaking policy (written) a handgun was kept away from a thief. With the constant need to do so much more of this, such hypocricy.:rolleyes:
Apparently keeping guns away from thieves and thugs is Not as important as the policy of not touching any customer.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Here's the link you accidently left out:
NRA calls this fired Academy manager a Hero.

Stopping a criminal with a gun is the subject of many threads here.

But for me the bottom line is, is there a need to stop such a person (shooting as they run by) or are they a common thief with an unloaded gun.
If they're shooting, I'd submit many on this board may consider engaging the threat. If they're just a thief, I'm not sure I want to engage with a firearm but might snap a picture.
 
Fortunately this story is available online. The guy risked personal injury to stop a man who could have easily killed someone. If he had just let him go and he wound up shooting or killing anyone sure as anything there would be an outrage directed to Academy for not stopping him. At this point Academy shouldn't have to hire him back. I would think that other stores would be honored to have this guy working for them. Hopefully enough people will spread the word and he will soon be employed again.
Thanks for posting the story here. I am about to write my letter to Academy when finished and I hope other members here do the same.
 
I don't understand how is losing his house when this just happened? And he has other job offers? And he has a Gofundme account with a couple of grand in it?
 
While I applaud his heroics, he also clearly went against written company policy. A policy that is instituted in about every major store thanks to lawyers suing. Their policy is strictly a CYA against those frivolous (and expensive) lawsuits.
 
TXAZ: Sorry, but I've had no luck doing links. Nothing was left out, because my attempts with the linking process never work.

Also wasn't aware of any GoFundMe account. Didn't see this last night or this afternoon.

As for written policy, a former coworker of my Dad (at TWA) had flown F-105s, and during a sortie over North Vietnam's Haiphong Harbor, the "Thud Driver" spotted the exact type of Soviet merchant ship which then often transported SA-2 missiles (possibly 57mm ammo etc), many of which had killed our flight crews.

Well, when he violated "written policy" by destroying much of that ship's cargo, he was kicked out of the AF but probably saved the lives of some US pilots, RIOs, WSOs, EWOs, + or - a "BUFF" or two.
 
Last edited:
The story I read quoted the criminal telling police that he would steal again when he got out of jail, that he would steal guns, he was going to shoot someone, and they would see him on the news.

And he's on the street again, now, released pre-trial with restraining orders preventing him from going to Academy and another place where he stole a gun.

Wonder how well that's going to work?? :rolleyes:
 
It's America he can steal guns practically anywhere. But if it were me I'd go to a different Academy. This time they won't stop him for sure.
 
FITASC said:
While I applaud his heroics, he also clearly went against written company policy. A policy that is instituted in about every major store thanks to lawyers suing. Their policy is strictly a CYA against those frivolous (and expensive) lawsuits.
Click to expand...


Tort reform?
 
1. What the Academy manager did was heroic.
2. What the Academy manager did violated his company policy.
3. Many companies have such "no chase, no restraint" policies because the $$$$ spent on employee injuries, defending lawsuits from wrongfully accused or injured suspects and other insurance payouts usually far exceed the $ value of the item being stolen.
4. Calling 911 to report a shoplifter/thief/robber and giving his description puts no employee at risk.
5. Well intended policies can't cover all situations. Surely Academy's "no touching the customer" policies wouldn't apply to an employee giving CPR to a customer.
6. Academy grossly overreacted in this case. A better response would have been to praise the heroics of their store manager and reinforce to all their store employees that the company does not endorse such actions due to the liability.
7. Academy missed a public relations bonanza and now finds itself waist deep in a PR outhouse.
 
ATN082268 Quote:
Originally Posted by FITASC View Post
While I applaud his heroics, he also clearly went against written company policy. A policy that is instituted in about every major store thanks to lawyers suing. Their policy is strictly a CYA against those frivolous (and expensive) lawsuits.
Click to expand...


Tort reform?
Click to expand...
The best "tort reform" is a jury.
 
Unfortunately I think Academy made the right call. I have some friends who work undercover in Walmarts. They push a shopping cart around all day pretending to shop while observing customers. They are also in contact with security viewing CCTV.

Their policy is to observe and report, nothing else. They tell me that over 90% of thieves are caught. Many before they get out the door. When security cameras pick up something police are called and are quite often waiting in the parking lot to get them as they come out the door. If not cameras can get a tag number. Even without a tag number police can usually look at security tape and make a positive ID. For most thieves it ain't their 1st time.

When employees try to detain thieves lots of bad things can happen. What if the employee is wrong about the suspected thief, or tries to detain the wrong person. That has happened before and people have pulled guns on store employees who wrongly tried to detain them. What if the thief pulls a gun and innocent shoppers are hit by gunfire. Thieves being chased have ran over innocent shoppers in parking lots trying to get away. If anyone is injured, even the bad guy, there will be a lawsuit and the store will lose.

quoted the criminal telling police that he would steal again when he got out of jail, that he would steal guns, he was going to shoot someone, and they would see him on the news.

And he's on the street again, now, released pre-trial with restraining orders preventing him from going to Academy and another place where he stole a gun.
Click to expand...

That is a breakdown of the justice system. After making those remarks he shouldn't be on the streets. But I can't blame Academy for that.

FWIW, while I think Academy made the correct call, the manager won't have any problems finding another job.
 
jmr40 said:
Their policy is to observe and report, nothing else. They tell me that over 90% of thieves are caught. Many before they get out the door. When security cameras pick up something police are called and are quite often waiting in the parking lot to get them as they come out the door. If not cameras can get a tag number. Even without a tag number police can usually look at security tape and make a positive ID. For most thieves it ain't their 1st time.
Click to expand...

I have no doubt that you are correct and that there are lots of good reasons for a retail employer to command employees not to try to thwart mere theft with force.

However, once I overcome the ample foresight of my inner lawyer, what distinguishes this episode is that the former employee couldn't have known this was just a theft. He hears his subordinate, an employee bound by the same policy, yell "Stop that man!" and observes a man running with a firearm. I put myself in that situation and wonder whether I would stand there looking stupid as a man with a gun runs outside to do whatever people with a gun in hand do. Would my first reaction be to ponder store theft policy?

Waiving a policy of non-intervention for publicly identified heroism creates an impermissible incentive for employees to intervene, but that doesn't make this fellow's reaction unreasonable.
 
Glad the employee got his job back.

But I think stores should tell their employees
they are expected to stop thievery.

And if said employee gets his lunch handed
to him, then tough petunias. The employee
is not fired, he's just dead or seriously
maimed for life.

Maybe the store will give a big settlement
to the employee's family or see that he gets
medical treatment for six months.
 
It would be interesting to know the complete story, that is if there is really more. By getting rehired, chances are real good there's more to the story then the CBS article says there is. Did the thief point the gun at customers? Did the thief point the gun at the assistant manager? Did the thief yell out that he's going to kill people? All bets are off if someone with ill intent points a gun at me.
 
It would be interesting to know the complete story, that is if there is really more. By getting rehired, chances are real good there's more to the story then the CBS article says there is.
Click to expand...

The only thing relevant to being rehired that isn't in the article is likely the public outcry for this guy being a hero and the bad press Academy received. It would not matter if the thief pointed the gun at anyone or yelled anything or not. The manager tackled the guy which was against policy.

Doing the right thing isn't always congruent with keeping your job. Many people understand this. Many people do not.
 
Maybe some of the phone calls dialed in yesterday by many of us made a difference.

Possibly it would have been best to have allowed the thief to have escaped the store, and if later a child had been mistakenly killed by the thug's gun....no sweat.
No worries.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top