Gun-Toting Clerk Will Get By With a Little Help From Friends

Chris Fowler has known Shannon "Bear" Cothran since their days together at Merrimack Valley High School – nearly half his life. So when he first heard about Cothran's close encounter with a knife-wielding robber Oct. 14, while working third shift at his convenience-store job, it hit him hard. 

"I was equal parts dumbfounded and relieved, knowing this man – basically my brother, who I love – was put in harm's way, and could've been killed," Fowler said. 

Cothran told police that a man with a knife came into the Shell gas station, demanding money, and threatening to kill him. Cothran pulled out a handgun and the robber fled. Hours later, Cothran was fired for violating company policy by having a concealed weapon at work. 

Fowler sees both sides.

"At the same time, I could understand where Shell was coming from – I used to be Assistant Manager there. I got Bear hired, and so we both knew about the policy in place. As a manager, I never agreed with it," Fowler said.

Fowler also ran the Main Dunstable Road Shell as a manager for a time – he regards the police, one that is enforced at most convenience store chains, as a double-edged sword.

"I grew up in what we call the 'C store' biz – my dad ran a convenience store, and I started working in one as soon as I could work. The "no weapons" policy is one almost all of them have –  Irving, Shell, Circle K, even the mom and pops," Fowler said. 

"Years ago, when the Main Street Texaco was still in existance, it was a written policy that on the late shift both doors had to remain locked and any and all transactions has to happen through a sliding door. That came about after that store was robbed 15 times in two years," Fowler said.

There are no easy answers to how companies like Shell, owned by Nouria Energy Corp., can avoid liabilities attached to having clerks with concealed weapons, while insuring they remain safe, Fowler said.

But something has to change.

"I wish there was an easy answer, but if places aren't going to change the policies, from a logical perspective, then they need to start moving in a different direction, especially for third-shift workers," said Fowler, who left employment with Shell about four year ago.

The obvious answer is to do what other major cities do, Fowler said – require customers after a certain hour to do business through a thick glass-and-steel window and transaction drawer. 

"In all honesty, knowing Bear so well and having worked with him, if the robber hadn't come around the counter and not made him fear for his life, Shannon would've complied and then called cops," Fowler said. 

"What it boils down to is if this can make a positive change, to have a second person on the shift, or keeping workers safer by locking doors, if this can bring light to some kind of posiitve change, then anything that helps is worth it," Fowler said.

In the meantime, Fowler's launched a gofundme.com page with a $5,000 goal, to help his old friend through the next few months of unemployment. 

"Bear's not the kind of guy who will ask for help. He's the kind of guy who will stand next to you or fight next to you, if you need him. But for the countless times he's reached out and helped me when I've fallen, I want to do something to return the favor – and I also don't want to see him suffer for his decision to defend himself," Fowler said.