Georgia Smoke Shop Employee Shoots & Kills Armed Robber

An armed robber was shot and killed by an employee at a Georgia smoke shop Thursday afternoon.

Police the incident took place at around 1 p.m. Thursday at the Paradise Island Smoke Shop in Lithonia. As the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports, two unidentified men entered the store and asked to see an item on a shelf behind the employee who happened to be working that day.

When the employee turned around to get the item, one of the suspects took out a shotgun and put it to the back of his head.

According to Dekalb police spokesman Capt. Steven Fore, that’s when the employee “turned around slowly, reached up and grabbed the gun barrel.”

After struggling with the suspect over the shotgun and managing to get the barrel pointed away from his head, the employee drew his own gun and fired multiple rounds at the suspect.

The AJC said the suspect died at the scene. The second armed robber fled the scene in an SUV but was later arrested after turning himself in to police.

CBS Atlanta says police are still investigating and will look at store surveillance footage of the incident.

“It’s hard for you to make judgement on how someone reacts, you feel your life’s in jeopardy, it’s hard for us to pass judgement,” Fore said.

Police, the Daily Caller noted, believe the two suspects are also responsible for an attempted armed robbery at a check cashing store earlier in the day. The heist reportedly failed because the store has bulletproof windows.

[h/t to BearingArms.com]