A McDonald's worker who shot at a woman who robbed the restaurant on State Street in New Albany on Christmas Eve has been suspended from his job because of the incident.
Maintenance worker Clifton Brown Jr. had taken a 9 mm pistol to work on Dec. 23 and had it with him outside the restaurant as he and another employee took out the trash shortly after the midnight closing, New Albany police said.
That is when a woman, who was on foot, put a gun to the back of the second worker and then robbed the restaurant through the drive-through window.
Brown pulled his gun out and ordered the fleeing robber to stop, he told police.
The woman stopped but raised her own gun, Brown told police. He responded by firing two shots at her before she continued to flee. Police, who described Brown as in his early 50s, said they think both shots missed their target.
Ron Vanover, owner of the restaurant, said yesterday that guns are prohibited at McDonald's. Vanover said Brown is suspended "pending an investigation."
Calling it a personnel matter, he would not say what might happen at the end of the investigation.
"It's just unfortunate that it happened and it's unfortunate that somebody reacted that way," Vanover said of the robbery and the firing of shots. He called Brown's reaction inappropriate.
"I think that's common sense. Money can be replaced; lives cannot," Vanover said.
Brown, who could not be reached yesterday, has a permit to carry a gun, New Albany Detective Keith Whitlow said. "We don't have any reason to believe that Mr. Brown has violated any laws," Whitlow said. "It's up to McDonald's to decide" what happens with the employee, he added.
Whitlow said that he's "not overly enthused about untrained individuals engaging in stuff like that," but that once the robber raised her gun, Brown "was in jeopardy" and had a right to defend himself.
Maintenance worker Clifton Brown Jr. had taken a 9 mm pistol to work on Dec. 23 and had it with him outside the restaurant as he and another employee took out the trash shortly after the midnight closing, New Albany police said.
That is when a woman, who was on foot, put a gun to the back of the second worker and then robbed the restaurant through the drive-through window.
Brown pulled his gun out and ordered the fleeing robber to stop, he told police.
The woman stopped but raised her own gun, Brown told police. He responded by firing two shots at her before she continued to flee. Police, who described Brown as in his early 50s, said they think both shots missed their target.
Ron Vanover, owner of the restaurant, said yesterday that guns are prohibited at McDonald's. Vanover said Brown is suspended "pending an investigation."
Calling it a personnel matter, he would not say what might happen at the end of the investigation.
"It's just unfortunate that it happened and it's unfortunate that somebody reacted that way," Vanover said of the robbery and the firing of shots. He called Brown's reaction inappropriate.
"I think that's common sense. Money can be replaced; lives cannot," Vanover said.
Brown, who could not be reached yesterday, has a permit to carry a gun, New Albany Detective Keith Whitlow said. "We don't have any reason to believe that Mr. Brown has violated any laws," Whitlow said. "It's up to McDonald's to decide" what happens with the employee, he added.
Whitlow said that he's "not overly enthused about untrained individuals engaging in stuff like that," but that once the robber raised her gun, Brown "was in jeopardy" and had a right to defend himself.
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