Who is a responsible citizen? What is a hero? An Eagan, Minn. convenience store clerk would say that Jochen Leidner, a research scientist at Thomson Reuters, is both.
On November 15, after filling his car with gasoline, Leidner entered a convenience store to scout for a snack and report an odd smell from the pump. Minutes later he was wrestling a robber to the ground.
“While I was standing in queue, a man with a black T-shirt over his head pushed the woman in front of me,” Leidner said. “The man then turned to the clerk and said ‘Give me the cash, I’m not kidding you.’” He appeared to have a gun, hidden.
Leidner, with previous experience as a paramedic, quickly tried to assess if a plastic bag the man was holding really contained a gun, but he was unsure.
Leidner said, “The clerk looked shocked and wasn’t responding to the robber’s request. I was worried he might shoot her, or shoot others in the store.” So within seconds Leidner slipped behind the robber and took the risk.

(Image from security video provided to Eagan, Minn. police)
The store surveillance cameras show Leidner taking the robber to the ground, and two other men in the store then jumping in to help hold the robber until police arrived. (See the video in this WCCO-TV report)
Why did he take this risk?
Leidner in a quiet voice said, “I was concerned for the clerk.” And he is still concerned and hopes she will recover from the shock. Was he scared, or does he feel scared about it today? He didn’t think about it, but hopes his mother in Germany never hears about it. “I think she would be freaked out,” he said.
In Jochen Leidner’s eyes, the real triumph of this story is that nobody was hurt.
Heroes are everyday people, making a difference. Jochen Leidner is definitely a hero, although he prefers to think of himself as simply a responsible citizen.
Either way, I think his mother would be very proud of him.