7-Eleven clerk fired after shooting attacker

Nov 18, 2025 #okc #oklahoma KOKH Fox25
Stephanie Dilyard, a former 7-Eleven clerk, faced a terrifying ordeal when a man attempted to strangle her after she refused to accept a counterfeit $100 bill for purchases.

The incident occurred just before midnight on Thursday.

Dilyard recounted, "He threatened me, and said he was gonna slice my head off, and that's when I tried to call the police. 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, and that's when I pulled out my gun and I shot him."

The suspect, identified as 59-year-old Kenneth Thompson, fled to MacArthur Blvd. and Northwest 34th St. and called 911.

Police confirmed that Dilyard is protected under Oklahoma's self-defense law.

However, she was terminated by 7-Eleven on Monday for using her own gun. "They said that they were going to separate from employment because of a violation of policy," Dilyard said.

Dilyard, who had been working alone from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. for over two years, still bore a scratch on her neck and burns on her finger from firing the pistol.

Reflecting on the incident, she stated, "This was a situation where I felt like I was put into 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. Just, I'm going, I'm going home, you know. I need to be here for my kids."

Thompson was arrested at the hospital and charged with assault and battery, threatening acts of violence, attempting to pass a fake bill, and a felony warrant for violating parole.

Dilyard hopes her experience serves as a wake-up call to prevent other clerks, especially women, from being harmed. "If I've known that there's a potential that somebody is for real on taking my life away that I will do whatever it takes, and I hope that women see that, and they'll do the same thing. You have a right to defend yourself," she said.

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