An armed employee of a cannabis dispensary in Covington fatally shot a man who was attempting to rob the store Thursday night, according to the store’s director of operations.
Deputies are still investigating the death and the attempted robbery, which occurred shortly before 8 p.m. in the 27600 block of Covington Way Southeast, according to King County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Capt. Tim Meyer.
The Sheriff’s Office did not provide other details Friday.
Ryan Evans, director of operations of the local chain Euphorium, said the would-be robber accosted an employee in the parking lot of the Covington store, put the employee in a chokehold and held a gun to his head.
“The perpetrator walked the employee up to the store, got in the door and told our ID and security people, ‘This is a robbery,'” Evans said. “My ID checker said, ‘Are you serious?’ and when he was, my ID checker drew his weapon and fired.”
Evans said the shooter is physically OK but very shaken, as are other employees and customers who were in the store at the time.
The attempted robbery, he said, was an escalation of what they typically see, in which suspects run inside and “maybe shoot in the air.”