A shop clerk at a grocery store in Bay Point, California, shot and killed an armed robbery suspect after being pistol-whipped on the night of Dec. 22, according to multiple reports.
As reported by Fox News, two masked individuals armed with guns were seen entering the Kam’s Market in Bay Point in, at around 11 p.m. local time, according to the surveillance video from the store. One of the armed, masked men approached Mark Kasbrowicz, the store clerk, and then promptly smacked Kasbrowicz in the head with a pistol.
Kasbrowicz fell to the ground following the blow, whereupon the masked man began to take cash from the register, according to ABC 7. Kasbrowicz reportedly tried to get up from the initial attack and was pushed back down by the attacker. Kasbrowicz was eventually able to retrieve a gun from one of the store’s drawers by the cash register.
“I don’t know if it was fear and adrenaline kicked in together, but I tried to protect myself a little. He forced me onto the ground, he held me down,” Kasbrowicz said, according to ABC 7. While this commotion was happening behind the counter, a co-worker was being held at gunpoint by the second robber outside of the view of the surveillance camera, according to Fox News.
When the attacker noticed Kasbrowicz’s gun the two struggled, with the armed robber beating Kasbrowicz until a gun went off, according to Fox news. Following the shot, the two attempted to flee the scene, and Kasbrowicz took this chance and fired a shot at the fleeing suspect, killing him. The second suspect escaped unharmed.
“I just looked around, and he was running, and by instinct, I let go a shot. I managed to squeeze off one round and apparently after the fact I found out that I actually hit him,” Kasbrowicz said, according to Fox News.
Kasbrowicz, following the incident, was taken to the hospital and received 17 staples to the head, according to ABC 7. He expressed relief that he was alive, saying, “sure he is deceased but then again I’m lucky to be alive, I am lucky my co-worker is alive. I was certainly in shock when I saw the video. I didn’t know how serious it was until I actually saw it.”
Fox News reported that Kasbrowicz spent two decades serving in the U.S. Air Force, working in private security.
The news outlet reported that the suspect that Kasbrowicz had shot collapsed in the parking lot and died from his wounds, while the other masked man ran off. Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office, which responded to a call regarding an assault with a deadly weapon and shooting incident, issued a statement in a Facebook post on the morning of Dec. 24, confirming the series of events that had unfolded on the night of Dec. 22. The sheriff’s office did not release the identity of the suspect who died on the scene.
Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office said that the investigation is still ongoing as they search for the other individual, according to the statement.
