Three employees at a Metairie, Louisiana, Academy Sporting Goods were fired after chasing a shoplifter who was allegedly stealing a pistol.
FOX Business reported that the alleged shoplifting incident occurred December 16, 2023, and three employees–including Michelle Sutton–pursued the shoplifter.
WGNO noted that Sutton was working “team lead” at the store when the incident occurred. She heard other employees reporting the alleged shoplifting and immediately gave chase, saying, “I just took off, I knew I needed some form of way to help the police.”
Two other employees ran outside the store with Sutton, trying to locate the shoplifter, but were unable to find him. Four days later, Sutton and her two fellow employees were fired.
Sutton suggested Academy’s policy on responding to the theft of firearms is unclear and she believes she and her fellow employees were fired because they “left the porch” by running into the parking lot.
She said, “Every store that sells firearms, especially pistols that are concealable, need to have clear policy. They need to have extra training. They need to prepare for the unexpected.”
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and a Turning Point USA Ambassador. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal in 2010, a speaker at the 2023 Western Conservative Summit, and he holds a Ph.D. in Military History, with a focus on the Vietnam War (brown water navy), U.S. Navy since Inception, the Civil War, and Early Modern Europe. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at
