A 7-Eleven clerk in Oklahoma City shot a man who allegedly attacked her after attempting to use a counterfeit $100 bill late Thursday night, according to police and local news reports.
The incident occurred just before midnight when the man entered the store and tried to purchase burritos, beef sticks, and ice cream using the fake bill, KOKH-TV reported.
The clerk refused the transaction, telling him she was calling police, KWTV-DT reported.
Gary Knight of the Oklahoma City Police Department said the clerk also refused his demand that she return the counterfeit money.
Police said the suspect then became violent and moved behind the counter.
“He came around the counter, got behind the counter where she was, and grabbed her by the throat and began choking her violently,” Knight told KWTV.
The clerk, identified by KOKH as 25-year-old Stephanie Dilyard, said the suspect threatened her.
INJUSTICE? Stephanie Dilyard has been FIRED from an OKC 7-Eleven after she shot a man who was trying to STRANGLE her after she refused to accept his counterfeit bill.
— Election Wizard (@ElectionWiz) November 18, 2025
Police say Dilyard acted in self-defense.
7-Eleven says she violated their policies.
There are now calls to… pic.twitter.com/0mJAaibBzn
“He threatened me, said he was gonna slice my head off, and then that’s when I tried to call the police. I realized he started throwing things at me, came behind the counter. I tried to run off, but he grabbed his hands around my neck, and pushed me out of the counter space,” she told the station.
Police said that during the struggle, Dilyard pulled out a pistol and shot the suspect.
According to officers, the man was carrying a knife at the time.
The shooting was captured on surveillance video, KWTV reported. Authorities identified the suspect as 59-year-old Kenneth Thompson.
After being shot in the stomach, Thompson fled the store and called 911, KOKH reported.
“Reporting he had been shot,” Knight told KWTV, adding that Thompson did not initially offer details to officers when they located him.
Thompson was taken to a hospital and arrested there.
According to police, he faces charges that include assault and battery, threatening acts of violence, attempting to pass a fake bill, and a felony warrant for violating parole.
He will be booked into the Oklahoma County Detention Center once released from medical care.
Dilyard sustained minor injuries in the attack, police said.
Investigators told KOKH that she acted within Oklahoma’s self-defense law. She was not arrested.
Despite that determination, Dilyard told KOKH she was fired by 7-Eleven on Monday for using her firearm.
“They said that they were going to separate from employment because of a violation of policy,” she said, noting she had worked the overnight shift alone for more than two years.
According to KWTV, a clerk told the station that store employees are not permitted to carry firearms at work.
KWTV said the company has not responded to questions about whether security would be provided following the attack.
Dilyard told KOKH that she believed she had no choice but to defend herself.
“This was a situation where I felt like I was put in a corner between choosing between my job and my life, and I’m always going to choose my life because there’s people that depend on me,” she said.
“Just, I’m going home, you know. That’s my goal. I need to be here for my kids.”
She said she hopes what happened will alert other clerks, especially women, to the risks they may face.
“If I’d known that, you know, there’s a potential where somebody could be for real in taking my life away that I will do whatever it takes … I hope that … women see that, and you know, they’ll do the same thing. You have the right to defend yourself,” she told the station.
WATCH:
"It's unfortunate she didn't shoot him twice." Local attorneys weigh in on whether the former 7-eleven clerk might have a legal case after getting fired for using her own weapon in self-defense. @robhagannews @OKCFOX pic.twitter.com/eA9gjujdEm
— Wendy Suares📺 (@wsuares) November 20, 2025
