‘He shot my arm off’: Armed man flees when 80-year-old store owner fires shotgun, video shows

In a faceoff that lasted seconds, an armed man was shot by an 80-year-old Southern California store owner who pulled a shotgun out from behind the counter and opened fire during an attempted robbery.

Surveillance video captured the moment the business owner opened fire on would-be robbers armed with long rifles at the convenience store in Norco, a city in Riverside County roughly 50 miles east of Los Angeles.

“I would always protect my employees, my customers, myself. This instance, fortunately, I was here by myself, so I only had to worry about that. I took care of it and that was that,” the store’s owner, identified by CBS LA asCraig Cope, told the station.

The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department reported four hooded suspects, with their faces covered, pulled up to the business in a BMW SUV and entered the store with rifles pointed.

Footage recorded at the convenience store shows the owner fire a single round from behind the counter, apparently striking one of the would-be robbers. The owner then appears to duck behind the counter.

As the suspects flee, one is heard screaming, “He shot my arm off, he shot my arm off!”

Video outside the store shows the suspects then get into the BMW and speed off.

“In this case, a lawfully armed member of our community prevented a violent crime and ensured their own safety, while being confronted with multiple armed suspects,” the sheriff’s department wrote in a release.

The sheriff’s office reported deputies found the 23-year-old gunman at a local hospital “suffering from a gunshot wound consistent with a shotgun blast.” He was in critical but stable condition on Monday, and officials said he would be booked into jail when he is released from the hospital.