Donations are pouring in for a mother-of-three who lost her job at a New Mexico gas station after she shot an armed robber.
Jennifer Wertz was held up at a Circle K gas station in Albuquerque last Monday while she was working behind the counter.
She said the suspect, identified by police as 23-year-old Ferron Mendez, ran into the store and pointed a gun at her.
Jennifer Wertz was held up at a Circle K gas station in Albuquerque, New Mexico last Monday while she was working behind the counter
‘He pointed the gun at my face, I grabbed my gun from my pocket, I cocked it and I shot,’ she told Fox News.
Ferron Mendez, 23, faces charges of attempted armed robbery following the attack at the Circle K gas station
Wertz was initially suspended for two weeks by Circle K after the shooting, but they have since fired her for breaking company policy that bans employees from carrying guns at work.
A GoFundMe page set up for Wertz after she was fired has since raised more than $64,000 in donations. The page was set up by her own mother who wrote that Wertz would never ask for help herself.
‘She has always been a good person, mom and daughter. She is in need of dire help to support her family. She was already living pay check to pay check and now has no savings or nothing to fall back on,’ the page read.
Wertz said she had been bringing her gun to work lately due to a recent spate of crimes in the area and claimed her employers weren’t doing enough to make her feel safe.
The suspect, identified by police as 23-year-old Ferron Mendez, ran into the Circle K gas station (above) and pointed a gun at the mother-of-three
Wertz, above with her three children, was fired for breaking company policy that bans employees from carrying guns at work
‘Robberies have been going on like this for the past few weeks,’ she said. ‘They have done nothing to protect me… and I felt the need to protect myself.’
She said she chose not to follow protocol because she was tired of being a ‘sitting duck’.
‘We are not to chase. We are not to provoke. We are not to do anything we just stand there and give them what they want and they leave,’ she said of the policy.
‘What if he would have come in and just shot me just because I wasn’t behind the counter?
‘I’m sick and tired of being a sitting duck.’
Mendez was hospitalized but has since been jailed. He is facing a string of charges including attempt to commit armed robbery and aggravated assault.
No charges have been filed against Wertz.
A GoFundMe page set up for Wertz after she was fired has since raised more than $64,000 in donations. It was set up by her mother who wrote that Wertz would never ask for help herself