Firearms Owners Against Crime
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
A Pizza Hut delivery man in Springfield, Mo., says he’s worried he’ll lose his job after fending off a robber in an “old fashioned gun fight” earlier this month.
William Hotop says he defended his Springfield, Mo., Pizza Hut location like it was his "home." (Google Street View)
William Hotop, 31, told the Springfield News-Leader his Pizza Hut location had just closed when an intruder smashed through the glass door and began fumbling for something inside his hoodie.
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Hotop, knowing there was a gun stashed inside the restaurant, darted toward the firearm. So when the intruder produced a gun and aimed it in Hotop’s direction, the two men began firing at each other.
"It was a good old-fashioned gunfight," Hotop told the News-Leader. "I protected [Pizza Hut] like it was my home.”
Hotop says he eventually chased the robber from the premises, firing off the gun a few times in the process. Neither Hotop nor the two other employees on-duty were injured, the News-Leader reports, and the restaurant was not robbed of any money.
According to Hotop, however, Pizza Hut has since suspended him without pay, and fired the manager who was on-duty that evening.
"I can't believe that after I protected the store, I'm basically losing my job," said Hotop.
Hotop, too, says he fears repercussions because of a prior felony conviction which prevents him from carrying a firearm — even though the gun he used on Sept. 12 wasn’t his.
A representative for Pizza Hut had not returned the News-Leader's request for comment.