Worker fired for carrying gun on company property given job back

The General Motors Technical Center, left, where Didarul Sarder, right, stopped a stabbing attack. (FOX2)

An employee at a Michigan General Motors Technical Center said he was fired after he pulled a gun to stop a knife attack at the plant on Wednesday, but his bosses eventually reversed their decision and let him return to work.

Didarul Sarder, a 32-year-old valet service supervisor, "now has his job back," Warren Mayor Jim Fouts said in a Facebook post.

Sarder said he had a valid concealed pistol license and was carrying his gun when he saw a 52-year-old woman being stabbed by another woman just outside the main entrance of the central office building, FOX2 reported.

“Maybe those few seconds before the police arrived could be the difference between life and death.”

— Didarul Sarder

“The lady kept saying ‘I’m dying, someone help,’ and it was just natural reaction,” Sarder said. “I just see this lady getting stabbed. I only had, like, half a second to think and I un-holstered my firearm and pointed it at her to drop the knife.”

Sarder said he told the suspect to freeze until police arrived to arrest her. The woman who was stabbed, Stephanie Kerr, is in critical condition after being stabbed in the neck, back and abdomen, officials said.

Fouts told FOX2 the attack began when the 32-year-old suspect entered the plant asking to speak with Kerr. The two met in the lobby but eventually went outside. That’s when the suspect pulled a knife. The suspect hasn’t been identified because she hasn’t been charged or arraigned yet.

“I hope she makes it,” Sarder said. “Maybe those few seconds before the police arrived could be the difference between life and death.”

But after the incident was resolved, Sarder said a GM employee fired him for having the weapon on the premises.

“He said, ‘You shouldn’t have had a firearm here,’” Sarder said. “'After this is done he needs to be escorted off the property. He’s not welcome back here.’”

Sarder added: “I was really bummed out. I got a little emotional.”

Sarder said he had worked on the grounds for a company contracted by GM since December. He said he was never informed of a no-gun policy. Sarder’s wife, Jakia Sarder, told The Detroit Free Press that Sarder had worked for the company for almost 10 years.

“Right after it happened someone in authority asked him off the premises because he violated company rules with a gun,” Fouts wrote. “That was absolutely the wrong response to this hero. However that decision was over-ruled by higher ups and he now has his job back.”

Sarder said he wouldn’t change anything that happened.

“I would do it all over again,” he said. “If I could save this woman’s life over a job. I can get another job.”

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