HARTLAND, MI (WXYZ) - "The last thing I expected was to not have a job," said Kristopher Oswald, 30, who was fired from Walmart this week after he intervened to help a woman who was apparently being assaulted in the parking lot of the store. Oswald, who worked stocking pet food on the overnight shift at Walmart, was spending his lunch break in his car when he heard a woman screaming and a man hanging onto the hood of her car. At first, Oswald wondered if it was just people horsing around recklessly, but when he walked over to see if the woman was really in danger, he says the man began to attack him, punching him in the head while yelling "I'm going to kill you". Oswald tells Action News that he was able to get on top of the man and just when he thought he had him under control, two other men jumped Oswald from behind. Livingston County Sheriff deputies were quick to arrive, but Oswald says he wasn't expecting what Walmart did next. A spokeswoman for Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart Stores Inc. told The Associated Press on Thursday that while the company understood Oswald's intentions, his actions violated company policy. Oswald only began working for Walmart about seven weeks ago and would not have been considered a permanent hire until a 180-day probation period ended. Kristopher Oswald told WXYZ-TV in Detroit ( http://bit.ly/18qGyBh) that Wal-Mart has policies against workplace violence to prevent employees from assaulting co-workers or tackling a shoplifter, but that it appears that nothing allows for them to assist in situations of imminent danger and self-defense.
– It's hard to imagine an attempt at heroism going worse than the one Kristopher Oswald attempted Sunday. The 30-year-old Walmart employee was taking a lunch break in his car at around 2:30am (he worked as an overnight stocker), when he heard a woman screaming for help and saw a man on the hood of her car. He approached and asked if the woman needed help, and the man lunged at him, he tells WXYZ. Oswald got on top of his attacker, only to be jumped from behind by two other men. Police came to his rescue soon thereafter. But the last blow landed later when Walmart fired him over the incident. A company spokesman tells the AP that they fully understand that he was trying to help, but that he violated Walmart's anti-violence policy. Oswald was stunned. "The last thing I expected was to not have a job," he says. "I don't even know what to put on an application about all this. How do I say this ended?"