Banks have robbery procedures and THAT behavior is NOT on the list! 

Haven't you people ever heard that all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing?

I suppose you people think the passengers of US Airways flight 93 were stupid to resist? Just think how different 9/11 would've been if everyone on all the flights had resisted? But since liberals have no spine it's up to the real men to fight evil.

The only reason these liberal weakling bank owners make rules that say don't resist the robber is that they're afraid of being sued. That is the only reason and it's a BS reason. If real men stood up for whats right these criminals would think twice, but the weaklings say do what the bad man says and we'll all be ok. How can you feel like a man after that, and what kind of message does that send to criminals?

As a bank employee for 20 years who has been in 2 armed robberies, I believe the teller deserved to be fired. In one of the hold ups that I was involved in a customer decided to take matters into his own hands and attack the armed robber. At the time there were about a dozen people in the bank and any one of them could have been shot in the struggle that ensued. No amount of money that is in a tellers drawer is worth putting lives at risk. This teller was no hero!

I have also been a bank teller for over 30 years. This teller deserved to be fired. The bank procedures are in place after years of research by law enforcement. It is a nationwide procedure to follow the robber's instructions and NOT to be a hero. My bank had four employees kidnapped because they did not follow procedures. They were taken to a back country road and forced to lay on the gravel road while the robber drove the car over them. One woman was killed. All because they did not follow procedures. The national attention Ann Curry gave this former teller is a good message to bank employees everywhere. FOLLOW ROBBERY PROCEDURES WITHOUT EXCEPTION! ! !

Criminals tend to escalate their actions to complete their crime without being caught. The bank teller prevented further violent crime and potentially saved the lives of many others through his brave actions.

Criminals tend to escalate their actions to complete their crime without being caught. The bank teller prevented further violent crime and saved the lives of many others through his brave actions. What has happened to other bank tellers that have posted here is truly tragic, but perhaps tellers should receive realistic self defense training and awareness skills to protect themselves and others. The Today Show's treatment of this story was poor: publicizing bank policy with relation to robberies will further encourage future criminals. Ann Curry did not give a good message. She encourages everyone to be victims.

Agreed with above. I'm also a bank employee--formerly working in the branches, now working as a trainer--and this teller absolutely deserved to be fired. Show me the weapon? This kid is lucky the only thing he lost was his job. Bank robbers don't tend to "escalate their actions to complete their crime", they tend to escalate the situation when things stop going according to plan. Unlike what Hollywood portrays, the VAST majority of bank robberies are not spectacular gunfights or incredible plots hatched by a mastermind planning strategy for months--they're very quick and quiet. Usually a bank robbery lasts for all of about 30 seconds: the person waits in line, goes to the first available teller, hands over a demand note or makes a verbal demand, gets the money and leaves. By demanding that the robber show the weapon, the teller escalated the situation to a dangerous level that was never necessary. I mean seriously, imagine the headlines if this had gone down differently and the robber had "escalated his actions to complete the crime." I don't agree with every bank policy and procedure, but their robbery procedures are spot on--the money can be replaced. Human lives, not so much.

I am a bank teller in Denver and I can say that most banks have policies in place preventing employees from confronting robbers. This is for the safety of employees and bystanders. This teller deserved to be fired and I find it very upsetting that Today is painting his as a hero who didn't deserve to be fired. He didn't follow one of the banks most basic policies and he was terminated accordingly.

I hear alll of these peole talking about being bank tellers. but I hear no one discuss the human factor, which is the guy merely said " his instincts kicked in" Im not saying he is right. Of course not, but a warning would be sufficient.

The credit union where I worked had this policy "if you try to be a hero, you will be fired."

Which is fine in theory, but in practice, like this guy is saying, you just don't know how you are going to react in the moment, and as the victim of a crime, no your job should not be on the line should you not follow "company policy". Your life and your coworkers lives are being threatened. The last thing you are thinking about is saving your job. Talking to this guy and saying "now what you should have done," or "what we'd like you to do"--thats appropriate. FIRING the guy? In this economy? Gimme a break. Key Bank, you might as well just shot the guy yourselves.

Key Bank, you might as well just have shot him yourself! But that's America today with its 'blame the victim' mentality. America just doesn't care anymore, and corporate America is vicious and brutal towards employees. I say it again, Key Bank, you should have just shot him yourself. SHAME ON YOU.

This guy should be given a medal, and sir I salute you and thank you for what you did in defense of yourself and your fellow citizens. You are a good citizen of this country and we need more people like you. I am sorry that Key Bank has decided to align with the forces of evil that perpetrated this crime and wound you further--but ultimately, you can see you are much better off somewhere else if this is how they treat their very best employees with your outstanding character. Best of luck to you--heck in this economy, I will pray for you to find work, but at a much better company that actually cares about its employees.

Having been in human resources for several years at a local bank, I can say that our tellers were educated on a regular basis not to play a hero during a robbery. We were very specific in training our tellers to hand over the money so that an already unpredictable and agitated assailant leaves as soon as possible . Unless otherwise specified the money that was giving really wasn't that much and not worth the risk of intervention. He put everyone else around him in peril by his actions. Most likely he would have been terminated at my bank too.

Whoever feels he is a hero is wrong. Here is why....if your relative worked in the bank or was a customer in the bank, and the robber freaked out and killed your loved one, would this guy still be a hero? Or would you be filling a lawsuit against the bank for the loss or injury of your loved one as a result of their employees negligence? That teller had a responsibility to others in the banks employ along with the public. He was absolutely foolish and should be fired. FYI, his actions should assure he has no future with the FBI or any other law enforcement agency. They avoid hiring people like him. Maybe he can be a mall cop?

I've also worked in a bank. As many others have mentioned, this teller not only went against bank (federal) policy, he put everyone in the bank at risk. Then he continued to endanger the general public by chasing the guy out into the street. I was appalled that Ann Curry's interview with this guy glazed over the facts and made this idiot seem like a hero. He is not. He knew what he did was grounds for dismissal and he deserved to be fired. You need to do a follow-up report to discourage this reckless kind of behavior.

One more thing..........if the bank did anything less than firing this guy they would appear to be "soft" on enforcing their policies. Then in the future another idiot employee may try to be a "hero" too. (Afterall being a "hero" has perks, like being on the Today show.) Someone could be killed or injured next time and the bank would face an even greater lawsuit for having been "soft" on this rule this time. Not a hero. Wouldn't trust him to work at McDonalds after this.

Too much can be said on this situation.   I am sure the i"hero" is a nice guy, but hopefully he learn from this. 

If he had not had a counter between himself and the robber, would he have been so brave?  If the robber had pulled a gun, this "hero" would have been first to see it and first to cower to safety behind the counter.  All others in the bank, not knowing a gun had been pulled, would not have known to duck and hide.  Therefore, the person least at risk in this situation was the hero.  All others would have been at much greater risk of being shot.  Hopefully the hero and the media will read this and other comments.  The "hero" behavior in a situation like this should be discouraged rather than glorified.

The teller should look at working in a Police Dept. or go to work for the FBI . He had a cool head and asked to see a weapon first and saw none then took action . The Teller should have been told not o do this again but not fired . The banks make it very easy to be robbed and made victoms . The banks have no bullet proff glass in front of them or high counters and an open lobby area .They make it easy to rob a bank and get away with it . When a bank does not provide any safety measures like bullet proof glass nor high counters , locked doors and gates leading to the teller area then its not a safe working environment .

The bank is not very safe to work in . No high Counters or bullet proof glass not a safe place to work in and tellers will always be a victom until changed . Need a safe work place and the bank is not providing that . What about Post stress and medical help for the tellers ?

He should just go to the police academy if doing something like that is in "his nature." Does he have weapons combat training? Probably not. He was just an average joe. It could have gone wrong. If he had a weapon it's one thing, but just to play hero, as much as I'd like to be brave and think I could do that, that was just stupid and irresponsible.

It looks like the tellers and bank employees feel they will always be the Victom in a bank Robbery. Is this the most dangerious job in America ? The bank is not providing a safe working envirnment and needs to change the lobby and teller work area so that they do not come in contact with a bank robber . Need radical change in the banks and working conditions . So if a teller has Post stress from having a gun poked in their face and have flash backs do they get fired also when they do not show up for work due to the stress of the job ?

First thing, the teller (whom I have been assisted by many times at the bank) asked the robber, "So where is it?" Meaning the weapon. If the robber flashed a gun, the teller would have handed over the money without incident. However, the robber said it was a "verbal" holdup, then backed up and fled, so the teller went after him. There was no danger to anyone at the bank at that point. Please get the facts straight before you comment.