IRONY: Kroger employee honored for courage
May 20, 2004
Columbus Dispatch
Bagger visits store where he took bullet to save co-worker
John Brining walked through the automatic doors at the Canal Winchester Kroger yesterday a hero.
The last time he passed through the doors, he was being rushed to a hospital March 30 after taking a bullet in the abdomen while protecting a co-worker.
Family members, friends and co-workers surrounded Brining, a bagger, as he was presented an award for bravery by Fairfield County Sheriff Dave Phalen.
"I think he really represents what heroism is in the truest sense," Phalen said.
Also there was Sharma Rochester, who apparently was supposed to get the bullet that wounded Brining, 19, of Groveport.
On that Tuesday afternoon in March, police said, Brining wrestled Christopher D. Rochester, 33, to the ground after he saw Rochester point a gun at Sharma Rochester, his stepmother.
Police said Christopher Rochester then fired three shots.
Click on the "Read More..." link below for more.
Brining, who has worked at the store for nearly two years, said he was familiar with the rift between Sharma Rochester and her stepson. That’s why he said he made a beeline for her cashier station when Christopher Rochester walked into the store.
"Right at that moment I knew I had two decisions: Either I run and hide or I do something," Brining said.
His first thoughts after he was shot — the bullet entered his abdomen and exited through his left hip — were of his family members, he said, adding that he didn’t want them to worry.
His relatives said he is always thinking about others.
"I expected him to be that way," said his mother, Lynda Brining. "He’s always been mature for his age. He’s always been level-headed during a crisis."
With tears in her eyes, Brining’s sister Heather Savage, 29, raved about her brother.
"He is just amazing," she said.
Store manager Jeff Shaffer agreed, calling Brining "a very good and caring kid."
Christopher Rochester is charged with two counts of attempted murder, two counts of felonious assault, one count each of aggravated assault and assault and three counts of inducing panic.
Brining, who left the hospital April 4, said he plans to return to work in a couple of weeks.
"John is my hero. He saved my life," Sharma Rochester said.
Commentary:
This incident happened not only when carrying a concealed firearm was prohibited in this Kroger store, but when it was prohibited throughout the state of Ohio.
That which was demonstrated in this Canal Winchester Kroger, has been demonstrated in many Krogers across the county - criminals, by definition, do not care about prohibitions, and will certainly ignore, or perhaps even be drawn to, stores that advertise that their customers' have been rendered defenseless by company policy.
In an email to concerned patrons about discriminatory signs in their southwest Ohio stores, Kroger stated that the company "understand[s] your stance as a shopper and respect[s] your right to take it. However, our obligation to our valued customers is to not only provide them with quality products and services, but also a safe place to shop."
Since Kroger believes it is "obligated" to create this safe place, will the company accept liability when defenseless citizens are hurt or killed in Kroger stores in the future. Is the store paying damages to this Canal Fulton store employee?
The problems in southwest Ohio result from the policy of ONE man: Mr. Bob Hodge, President of the Cincinnati Division of Kroger.
Hodge controls stores in parts of Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. Stores are not posted in the IN or KY stores under Hodge's control (although those states' laws certainly allow the company to do so, just as they so willingly point out Ohio's does), nor are they posted anywhere else in the country. This is true hypocritical behaviour. Mr. Hodge can be written at:
Mr. Bob Hodge
President, Cincinnati Division
150 Tri-County Parkway
Cincinnati OH 45246
513-782-3300
Hodge's boss is Company President David Dillon.
Kroger's national customer service number is 800-576-4377 or 866-221-4141. Click here to share comments online.
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