Friends of a fired convenience store employee who pulled out a gun to prevent a robbery are holding a rally in Nashua on Saturday at 2 PM at the local Shell gas station where he worked.
This past Monday at 3 AM, Shannon Cothran was the lone employee at the downtown gas station in Nashua.
When a masked individual came in, demanded money and threatened him with a knife, Cothran pull out his gun.
The assailant backed off and ran away. But a few hours later, Cothran was fired because his employer, Massachusetts-based Nouria Energy, has a strict no-weapons policy.
Cothran says he never told his employer of ten years that he kept a pistol in the drawer. "I knew I would be fired if I was ever put in a situation where I had to draw my weapon. I don’t have any issues for doing what their company policy says they would do. That being said, I really wish they would have better measures in place to protect their employees."
Cothran says he’d like to see better security for convenience store workers, such as bullet-proof glass.
The rally for Cothran, which is being billed as one to raise awareness for the safety of late-night workers, is scheduled for 2:00 PM at Nashua’s Main Street Shell Station.