STOW — A Stow Circle K worker is speaking out after firing seven shots during an attempted ATM theft that sent four suspects running from the store.
Stow police say four people used stolen minivans to repeatedly ram the Circle K, located in Stow, in an attempt to steal the ATM inside.
Kendrick Watson, who was working overnight with a coworker, says he saw multiple people rushing toward the store and feared for their safety.
"I saw multiple individuals trying to rush the store to rob it, so that's when I felt myself and my coworker's life was in danger, so I fired seven shots to protect ourselves," Watson said.
Watson says the suspects ran before making it inside the store.
According to Stow police, one person has been arrested, while three others remain at large. Police say Watson will not face criminal charges for firing his weapon.
"It was definitely a scary and dangerous situation, the clerk did what he felt he needed to do in the moment," Stow Police Capt. Brian Snavely said.
But while the immediate danger had passed, Watson says he faced uncertainty about his job.
He says he received a text from his boss the following Monday telling him not to come to work and that he had been taken off the schedule.
Watson says he initially believed the decision was temporary. But after two more days without work or an update, he thought he had been fired.
He says he was later told he could return to work, but he questioned how that would work given Circle K's policy against weapons.
After six years at the store, Watson says he has decided not to return.
Watson hopes others take the incident as a reminder to be prepared to protect themselves if they ever find themselves in a similar situation.
News 5 reached out to Circle K for comment but had not received a response at the time of publication.
Stow police are still searching for three suspects and a stolen brown minivan with a missing rear window covered in plastic.
