Trent Allen Longton was seen by multiple WalMart employees as he unwrapped a laptop and stuffed it down his pants in a desperate attempt to shoplift. He was brought into the security office as he was leaving the store, and after answering a few questions, he pulled the laptop out of his pants and placed it on the table. He then pulled out a gun, and held Gabriel Stewart up against a wall with the gun pointed into his spine.
Longton pleaded with the WalMart employees in the room to just let him go, because he didn't want to shoot anyone - but he would if he had to. The three other employees in the room quickly rushed Longton, threw him to the ground, and took away his gun.
They detained him until police arrived on the scene - and the police said that the employees handled the situation perfectly. The officer then wrote in his report that the employees and their own safety and public safety in their interest.
Despite their lives being in danger, and acting to protect themselves, they were fired for breaking WalMart policy. WalMart's policy on shoplifters is that employees can use a minor amount of force to detain employees, however if a weapon is pulled out, employees MUST disengage and withdraw.
The four employees had nowhere to withdraw to, and it was a life or death situation for them, so they engaged, and, as a result, their jobs were terminated after working there for more than 8 years.
