A photograph of four children tucked in a thank-you card from a coworker reminds Jeremy Hoven he did the right thing.
But doing “the right thing” cost the night shift pharmacist his job at the Walgreens drugstore at Napier Avenue and M-139. The national pharmacy chain fired Hoven on Monday, eight days after he fired his handgun to foil an armed robbery and a potentially deadly hostage situation at the store.
“In my mind, I can look at myself in the mirror. I can lay my head down in bed and sleep. In my mind, I did what I had to do,” said the 36-year-old Twin Cities-area resident.
The two masked gunmen fled after Hoven fired three or four shots from his revolver during the 4:30 a.m. incident May 8, a Sunday.
The card came from the family of a Walgreens manager who had been working that shift. Hoven, who spoke in measured, crisp tones, got a little emotional showing the card during an interview Tuesday at The Herald-Palladium.
He carried the card in a three-ring binder of notes, memos and news clippings about the incident.
Hoven’s lawyer, Peter Kosick of St. Joseph, said he is studying whether to pursue a wrongful termination lawsuit.
Berrien County Prosecutor Arthur Cotter said he reviewed police reports and store security video. He said Hoven did nothing criminal.
“It’s one of those difficult cases,” Cotter said. “If you’re Walgreens, what do you do? I’m sure their lawyers don’t want people carrying guns in their store.”
Still, he said, Hoven may have saved lives.
While the video of the incident will not be released pending arrests of the armed robbers, the newspaper reports accounts offered by Hoven, Cotter and Benton Township police appear consistent.
Hoven said his first hint something was wrong was seeing a manager run into a storeroom on the building’s west side. Seconds later he saw a man brandishing a handgun, guiding the second manager around the shelf at the northeast corner.
“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 had jumped over the counter, leaving the manager in the aisle. The robber came within a few feet of Hoven.
Hoven said the only thing behind the attacker was a cinder block wall. Thus he pulled his gun and fired three or four shots.
“I was creating a safe zone for myself,” he said.
The attacker tried to fire back, but his gun either malfunctioned or the safety had been left on, Hoven said.
The two gunmen ran out of the store.
Guess I won’t be buying anything more at Walgreens . . . .
This guy should be rewarded. He and the manager are lucky to be alive and healthy and Walgreen was lucky to have such a loyal, clearheaded, employee.
It’s time to put a little fear in the hearts of would be violent theives. Gun packing citizens create the kind of uncertainty that might give the criminals pause…I imagine in this case it already has.
Walgreens is already getting the kind of publicity it never wanted. I think their decision to fire the employee was ill considered and they should have merely turned it into a counseling session and let it go at that. The chances of this guy being in another holdup in that store is… slim to none! But to fire him and risk all that bad publicity? Wow…how stupid.
I understand their fear of being sued, if an armed employee took a shot a robber and it turned out to be a prank or it hit the wrong person. Lawyers have caused us to think irrationally, and stupidly. Common sense says most of us would rather live in a world where you didn’t know if your druggist was packing or not. I’ll take my chances my druggist wouldn’t accidentally gun me down the same as I take my chances he won’t give me the wrong meds. In fact my last druggist did carry a weapon for years….no big deal.
I would feel safer in a store that had armed employees rather than one that was guaranteed NOT to be unarmed. That store is a robbery magnet!
Too bad management didn’t know he’d been carrying a loaded firearm at work before the robbery. They could have sacked him with no fuss at all.
4:30 a.m. on a Sunday? Walgreen’s is running some funky shifts, but then I knew that.
I don’t know if they’re still doing it, but years ago I worked for immigration attorneys who had Walgreens for their biggest client. Walgreen’s couldn’t get Americans to work split shifts for any length of time, and so were importing visa’d Asians in droves.
I thought and think that we should really just pay a little more for the aspirin, and their shareholders should be content with 3%. But I am unreasonable, apparently,