Lisa Thompson was working the late shift at the Gap at the Arboretum Shopping Center. It had been a long week, especially after the frenzy on Black Friday, and customers were slowly leaving. It was 8 o’clock, and there were only three employees in the store. Thompson was assisting a customer when suddenly three armed people with masks came in and started threatening everyone and told them to get on the floor. She was shoved into the customer and then into a dressing room.

“They said to get on the ground and to not look at them,” Thompson said. “They just ran through the store terrorizing [everyone].”

Thompson, an English teacher, experienced all of this on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

The suspects ran out of the store with iPhones, wallets, money, and debit and credit cards that they had stolen from the customers and fled the scene by car. Two suspects have been identified and arrested so far.  Ariel Terry was arrested on Dec. 9, and James Broadhurst was arrested on Dec. 11. They are both being charged for robbery, kidnapping, larceny and conspiracy. Police are still searching for more suspects.

The robbers were fairly young (probably about 20, according to reports), but still not of age to own a gun. Gun laws in North Carolina state that you must be 21 and have a permit to own and use a firearm.

“They only stole a little over $1,000 from the store safe,” Thompson said. “There wasn’t much money in the cash registers to begin with, just enough to make change.”

Thompson has worked at Gap for about eight years and has a part-time position on Saturday nights and Sunday mornings. Ironically, she had just talked to her manager about a policy concerning a robbery-type situation.

“He literally told me 40 minutes before the event that our store was in the Arboretum and nothing ever happens there,” Thompson said.

Although the robbery only lasted about four minutes, employees and shoppers were quite shaken up.

“I just knew I had to comply with whatever they said,” Thompson said, “I told myself that if their intentions were to hurt me, they already would have.”

Thompson said that keeping herself level-headed and calm was very important.

“If I were to give any advice for someone in the same situation I would tell them to just shut their brain down and do everything they tell you,” she said.

Going through a stressful situation involving guns can be tough for others, but Thompson said she thinks she handled it well.

“The whole thing made me more aware that I can be level-headed and control myself when things like that happen,” she said.

Thompson’s colleagues were worried about how she was doing when the news broke, including principal Rick Parker.

“I went to check on her at her job to make sure she was okay,” Parker said.

Parker said that it seems like lately there has been a lot of violence, especially involving young people. He said he always wants his students to make the right choices, especially since they are so close to entering the real world.

“Adolescents should do what is right,” he said. “Remember that committing crimes will catch up to you.”

Another faculty member at East Meck believes that owning and being able to use a personal gun in robbery type situation should be guaranteed under our Second Amendment right. Crafts teacher Matthew Owen said that strict gun control laws should not be created just because criminals have abused that right.

“Yes, the people in the store were scared, but it’s not like the men were hurting anyone with their guns; it was just an intimidation factor,” Owen said. “What good are gun laws if the people using the guns have already decided to break other laws?”

He said that the robbery did not shock him and that it was a “normal crime.”

“Sometimes it makes me angry when people get upset and think someone should always be there to protect them,” Owen said. “In reality the victim is the first responder.”

Owen said that he would always want a friend or family member to have a fighting chance in a situation like Thompson’s, even if that means owning a personal firearm to defend themselves. However, he believes Thompson did the safest thing possible by complying with the robbers.

“I think [Thompson] made the right decision when she was in that situation,” Owen said, “I own a gun and I don’t think I would have used it if I were her.”

However, Owen did say that it was better to be prepared for these types of occurrences.

“You know an antelope can’t help the fact that it was born with antlers to defend itself,” he said, making an analogy to why we should be able to use guns for self-defense.

“I think young kids and people in general should be educated about and respect guns,” Owen said. “Guns are here to stay and becoming more informed about how they work may make people have less fear.”

Thompson remained safe throughout the whole robbery and didn’t lose anything to the robbers, but it made her more conscious of dangerous situations, and it was an experience that will stay with her.

“I was scared at first but I was able to make it through and stay calm,” she said, “The event opened my eyes.”