An employee at a Florida Walmart store defended himself by shooting an armed robber on Wednesday.
Ervin Jones was sitting in his car waiting for his shift to begin at the Sunrise, Florida store around 3:30 a.m. when a man approached him. The man, identified by police as 28-year-old Terrence G. Pearson, then showed Jones a gun and demanded money. Jones responded by opening fire on the armed robber, killing him.
"The boy came up to him," an anonymous co-worker told WSVN. "He showed him, he said, ‘You know what this is, right? Give me everything,’ so he just opened fire on him right then and there. He was shocked. I think he was just shocked that he just killed."
"One of my co-workers was waiting in his car, to clock in, and somebody tried to rob him," another employee told the station. "I guess he’s just pretty much defending himself. He’s a pretty mellow guy. If you ever get to meet him and talk to him, you wouldn’t even expect him to be able to defend himself like that because he’s very quiet, friendly."
Jones reportedly has a concealed carry license. Police said they are still investigating the incident but believe that Jones acted in self-defense.
"Investigators believe this was an attempted robbery and the employee fired in self-defense," Sunrise Police Officer Chris Piper told the Sun Sentinel.
Jones’ sister said his main concern was taking care of himself and his child.
"They said it was the other person, but when I woke up and heard about it, I was crying because, I mean, my brother is all I got and my kids," Natshia Jones told WSVN. "But I’m sorry to hear what happened to the victim, but my brother work hard, he work hard to take care of him and his child."