Clerk Stops Armed Robbery in Pascagoula

The 21-year-old woman arrested for attempting to rob a gas station in Pascagoula this morning is behind bars, pending a bond hearing. Authorities say the gas station’s clerk was able to snatch the gun away from the suspect and stop his store from being robbed.
A situation could have turned deadly early Monday morning at Exxon Fast Mart in Pascagoula. It all started when a woman walked into the gas station, demanded money, and pointed a gun right at the clerk. The gas station is in the same plaza as Metro Beauty and Fashion. Dena Hawkins works there. She said, “When you have a gun pointed at your face, you basically do whatever they say and just pray that the outcome is not a bullet in you.”
Authorities say 21-year-old Kayla Hooker from Mobile, Alabama attempted to rob the gas station, but the clerk was able to snatch the gun from the suspect, stopping the robbery in progress. “Lots of people when they get held at gun point they don’t have the ability to do that. It’s usually a fatal situation,” said Hawkins.
A similar situation just a few months ago at the Murphy Express gas station in Pascagoula could have turned fatal when an employee was hospitalized after being shot by a suspect attempting to rob that store. While Pascagoula police are still searching for that suspect, Lieutenant Doug Adams says the Exxon clerk is lucky history didn’t repeat itself this morning. “This turned out very fortunate that nobody got hurt, but it also could have turned out very tragically so that’s not something we encourage is for you to try to disarm these people.”
Pascagoula police say after the clerk took Hooker’s gun away, he called 911. Police caught sight of the suspect’s vehicle when she was traveling east bound on Highway 90. They made an arrest right in front of a McDonalds not even two miles away from the gas station. “With gas stations getting robbed late at night, that’s something they have to take in consideration with their business,” said Hawkins.
Hawkins says the incident does not scare her, but serves more as a warning to all businesses in the area. “It will definitely make me more aware of the people and clientele that are coming into our business.”