Gas station clerk fired for pulling gun on armed robber

A company has fired one of its employees at a Shell gas station in New Hampshire after the clerk scared off an attempted thief with a gun he kept handy at work.

Shannon Cothran, a burly man with the nickname "Bear," was working the overnight shift at a Shell in Nashua, New Hampshire last Sunday when a masked man walked in at 3 a.m. brandishing a knife and tried to rob him, WBZ-TV reported.

But Cothran had come prepared. He whipped out a gun and pointed it at the aggressor, who backed away and left the store without taking anything. Cothran told CBS he brought the gun to work after hearing about more than 15 recent store robberies in the area, even though he knew his company forbade weapons in the workplace.

Nouria Energy, the company that owns the station where Cothran worked, fired him hours after he drove off the attempted thief, according to the Nashua Telegraph. The company defended the decision in a statement, saying it prohibits employees from carrying weapons to keep everyone safe and teaches cashiers never to take on thieves.

[ Related: Husband forgets new bride at gas station in Germany during honeymoon ]

"Cashiers are instructed to give the intruder what they ask for in an attempt to resolve the conflict peacefully and as soon as possible," the statement says.

However, that answer isn't satisfying Cothran's supporters, who are planning a rally to protest his firing this weekend, the Telegraph reported.

Beer store owners Max and Jeannine Dawson in Missouri reacted very differently when one of their clerks, a military veteran, thwarted a robbery with his gun last month.

Jon Lewis Alexander reacted quickly when an attempted thief pointed a gun at him, pulling down the man's arm and pointing his own weapon in his face until he backed out of the store.

"I think it's a great thing," Max Dawson later told the Springfield News-Leader.