Walgreens pharmacist fires gun, canned

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - A pharmacist who says he shot in self-defense at an armed robber is fighting his firing from a Walgreens store in Berrien County.

The former Walgreens pharmacist, Jeremy Hoven, and his lawyer were in Grand Rapids on Wednesday, where the case may be heard in federal court. They released a video of the May 8 incident.

Hoven says he got a gun and a concealed weapon permit after a 2006 robbery. He claims that Walgreens failed to improve security after that incident.

"Mr. Hoven, by way of this lawsuit is challenging Walgreens' right to fire him for exercising his right to self-defense," said Dan Swanson, Hoven's attorney.

The in-store video shows what happened at 4:30 in the morning on May 8. It shows two masked men running into the Walgreens in Benton Township where Hoven was working the overnight shift.

One of the masked men leapt over the pharmacy counter into Hoven's work area. Hoven said he pulled his gun and backed away as the gunman pulled the trigger three times but the other man's gun didn't fire. Hoven said he shot back.

"I feared for my life and in self-defense I fired my weapon and I continued to move from him," said Hoven.

The gunmen, apparently unhurt, ran. One of the crooks dropped his gun on the way out. Within a week, Walgreen Co. fired Hoven, he says, for violating a non-escalation policy that he says he has never seen.

Walgreens didn't respond to requests for an interview. But in a reply to the lawsuit, Walgreens contends that it has a plausible and legitimate business reason to justify its decision. The company says Hoven had no right to carry or discharge a weapon in their store at any time.

"Companies that do not allow employees to defend themselves put the employee in a position of simply submitting, possibly being killed or if they react in self-defense, being fired. That's a Hobson's Choice that no employee should be placed in," said Swanson.