Heart-Shaped Pendant Saves Life of Cashier Who Was Shot

A heart-shaped pendant saved the life of a gas station cashier who was shot through a security window after refusing to give money to a would-be robber, Ventura police said Tuesday.

The single bullet pierced the ornament dangling on Wendy Armstrong’s necklace, slamming into her chest but sparing her serious harm.

Armstrong was working at the Thrifty Oil Co. gas station at 887 N. Ventura Ave. about 3:30 a.m. when a lone man shoved a small-caliber handgun through the walk-up window’s metal drawer and demanded cash, investigators said.

“She didn’t give him any (money) and he fired a shot that struck her in the chest,” Sgt. Gary McCaskill said. “She was wearing a heart-shaped pendant at the time and the bullet struck the pendant.

“Both the pendant and the bullet embedded in her chest, but the pendant probably saved her life,” he said.

The gunman, who was wearing a dark-hooded sweat shirt, ran off empty-handed moments after the shooting, police said.

“That’s about the only description we’ve got by now,” McCaskill said.

Armstrong, 25, managed to call 911 and was transported to Ventura County Medical Center, where she underwent emergency surgery early Tuesday.

Surrounded by family and friends in her one-bed hospital room, the auburn-haired Ventura woman was awake and alert by midafternoon. Armstrong and relatives declined to discuss the robbery attempt or the pendant that miraculously stopped the bullet.

Hospital officials listed her condition as stable.

The squat white gas station and convenience store is located at the southwest corner of North Ventura Avenue and West Barnett Street. Its four fuel pumps and limited snack foods and refreshments are available 24 hours a day.

Although police said the gunshot was fired through the metal drawer that allows customers to pay through the walk-up window, a company manager said Tuesday that the front door of the building was unlocked during the robbery.

Rich Miller, who oversees the Thrifty Oil station and 65 others in Ventura, Santa Barbara and Los Angeles counties, said the company’s policy is to leave the glass door leading into the convenience store open all night.

He declined to discuss the incident any further, however.

“We’re just concerned about the cashier,” Miller said.

On the thick glass window protecting the cashier, a sticker warns potential robbers that all customers are “monitored and recorded by an interactive video and audio system.”

But there is no evidence inside the tiny store of a video camera or other recording device, and police have no knowledge of any recording made of the shooting.

Officials at TeleControl Systems in North Hollywood, which offers the security devices, said once the clerk hits a panic button, guards at another location can hear everything going on in the store.

But it was unclear Tuesday whether Armstrong had activated the emergency eavesdropping system.

“We’re looking into whether the security (system) we have in place was (used),” said Barry Berkett, a Thrifty Oil vice president based in Downey.

Officers questioned a man they found roaming the neighborhood about 15 minutes after the shooting, McCaskill said. But, he said, “after interviewing him and talking to the victim, I was able to completely rule him out.”

Police spent much of Tuesday interviewing neighbors and other potential witnesses, McCaskill said. By late Tuesday, investigators had no leads in the case.

“We’re just knocking on doors, and talking to people to see if anyone saw anything,” he said. “We’re hoping people will call our CrimeStoppers program and report information they may know.”

Police urge anyone with information to call 339-4482 or 339-4376.