Video released in Putnam County gas station robbery, stabbing

Father says son struggles emotionally after killing robber

FRUITLAND, Fla. – The Putnam County Sheriff's Office released surveillance video Monday afternoon that shows what happened when a man tried to rob a Kangaroo convenience store in Fruitland on May 23.

Deputies said Anthony Shebester (pictured below) intervened when 42-year-old Jeffrey Lohman walked into the store on County Road 309, armed with a box cutter, and attempted to rob it.

Lohman began threatening the store clerk and demanded money and that's when Shebester intervened and pulled out his pocket knife in an attempt to stop Lohman. 

"He's lying on the floor, I don't know. … He's breathing; he's bleeding real bad," Anthony Shebester told the 911 operator the day of the robbery.

Shebester's conversation with the 911 dispatcher captured the moments after authorities said he stopped the robbery in progress.  The surveillance video the Sheriff's Office released Monday shows Shebester standing at the counter when Lohman ran in, jumped over the counter and went after the store's clerk. 

Anthony Shebester

Channel 4 spoke with Shebester's father on the phone Monday night.

"When he seen what was going on, something just clicked, you know, you gotta do something and that's why he drew Lohman's attention away from the clerk," said Shebester's father, Steve. 

LISTEN: 911 call No. 1 | 911 call No. 2

Shebester is seen in the video confronting Lohman, and then the two begin to struggle.  The video doesn't show it clearly, but police said a few seconds later, Shebester, armed with his pocketknife, stabbed Lohman (pictured below) in the chest, killing him.

"Sir, my mom wants to know if I'm going to get in trouble for doing what I did," Shebester asked the 911 dispatcher.

Putnam County Sheriff's Office booking photo of Jeffrey Lohman from prior arrest

"Sir, I don't know. I don't know the specifics of exactly what went down but based on what you've told me, it doesn't sound that way, I mean, I don't know," said the dispatcher.

Shebester's father told Channel 4 Monday that since the stabbing, his son has carried a heavy burden on his heart.  The day after the stabbing, Shebester said his son received a visit from Lohman's mother.

"She hugged my son and she told him, ‘you know, thank you for saving that gentleman's life at the store. You know, he probably would have killed him,'" said Steve Shebester. 

Despite everything, Shebester said he and his family are trying to remain focused on understanding what happened that morning in the Kangaroo store.

"They do say the best thing you can do to try to get over it is to talk about it," said Shebester. "And trying to help my son deal with it. It's just hard. He just can't believe he took another human being's life."


About the Authors:

Ashley Harding joined the Channel 4 news team in March 2013. She reports for and anchors The Morning Show.