‘Threatened to Shoot Me in the Head’: Black 7-Eleven Worker Left to Fend for Herself After Cops Allegedly Let White Harasser Walk––Until a Stranger Steps In
Shylan Sanders was working her shift at a 7-Eleven when a dreaded, familiar face entered the store. A white older man she claimed had harassed her before — and allegedly threatened to shoot her in the head — was back again and looked agitated. This time, Sanders said she was berated and harangued over a carton of cigarettes. The man had been banned from the store, she wrote in a caption on TikTok, and she refused to ring him up at the register. The now viral video only shows part of the confrontation because she claimed she was “too busy calling the police nonstop.” A man is accused of stalking a clerk at a 7-Eleven store. (Photo: TikTok/Shylan Sanders) “I told the police he threatened to shoot me in the head,” she wrote. “Gave them his full description… and they still took almost an hour to arrive.” @shylansanders Imagine being at work and the same man who’s already banned comes back, screaming and cussing at me because I wouldn’t sell him a carton of cigarettes. I only caught part of it on video because I was too busy calling the police nonstop. The worst part? Multiple men walked in and out of the store and didn’t lift a finger to help. They didn’t have to but as a BLACK woman being threatened by a WHITE man, oh it’s terrifying. And this wasn’t the first time. He kept showing up. This isn’t just harassment anymore it’s basically stalking, ATP. I told the police he threatened to shoot me in the head and said he’d get people after me, gave them his full description… and they still took almost an hour to arrive. When they finally did, they let him walk away like nothing happened. Instead of backing me up, my new assistant manager actually let him inside the store after the incident and even had a full conversation with him about it. She never told my GM what really happened instead, she spread that I ‘always have incidents’ and even said I’d be fired soon. If I hadn’t called my GM myself, no one would’ve known the truth. Thankfully I had video footage and the cameras proved what I said actually happened…he even went into the bathroom after telling me he was going to load his gun. Meanwhile, customers were mad I wouldn’t ring them up, ignoring the fact that I was being threatened. And now it feels like my assistant manager is trying to get me fired when she doesn’t even know me. She’s been here less than three weeks, and we’ve never worked a full shift together. On top of all that, my hours keep getting cut. In the last two weeks I’ve only worked 11 and 14 hours, and the week before that just 5. I still have a car payment, insurance, and $200 rent towards rent to give my parents thankfully they’re understanding. I’ve been applying for other jobs, but with how the economy is right now, it hasn’t been easy. I don’t know what else to do. I need this job, but my safety is being ignored. Management doesn’t care. The police don’t protect me. And I’m just trying to survive. “MORE DETAILS LATER” in HUGE THANK YOU TO THE BLACK MAN THAT CAME IN RANDOMLY IN THIS CLIP AND HELPED ME and stayed‼️‼️ ♬ original sound - Shylan Sanders Despite the powder keg situation, no one stepped in to defend her until a Black male customer walked into the store and told the man off. “Multiple men walked in and out of the store and didn’t lift a finger to help,” she wrote in the caption. “They didn’t have to, but as a BLACK woman being threatened by a WHITE man, oh, it’s terrifying.” White Man Demands Black Family Leave Restaurant Because 8-Month-Old Is Screaming with Glee Outbursts at service workers are nothing new, but data show these obnoxious acts are on the rise and take a serious toll on workers. A February 2025 report from Perceptyx found that 53 percent of employees who deal directly with the public reported abusive customer behavior in the past six months, and a significant number of those — more than half — faced discrimination or racism. Beyond the mental toll, employees who dealt with aggressive customers were 1.3 times more likely to be seeking a new job, and more than twice as likely to report worsening physical health. In the recent incident with Sanders, the police reportedly let her harasser go. “This isn’t harassment anymore, it’s basically stalking,” she wrote, adding that when the police arrived, “they let him walk away like nothing happened.” She was also disappointed with the assistant manager’s response, who she said questioned her version of events and threatened to fire her. “Thankfully, I had video footage and the cameras proved what I said actually happened,” she wrote, adding, “he even went into the bathroom after telling me he was going to load his gun.” Commenters on TikTok have plenty of advice for Sanders, urging her to file a complaint with the EEOC, call the Department of Labor, and even carry pepper spray to protect herself at work. She replied that she was looking for a new job and was grateful that a stranger had stepped in to help. “The police don’t protect me. And I’m just trying to survive. Huge thank you to the Black man who came in randomly in this clip and helped me and stayed!”
