HOUSTON – A convenience store clerk fought back during a robbery, shooting two thieves Monday.
Police said they believe more robbers are on the run.
Store clerk Dien Tu says he was surprised but prepared when he saw a masked man pistol-whipping his co-worker. Tu had just returned from a quick break in the back of the Super K convenience store on Beechnut Street and Jorine Drive in southwest Houston.
"Maybe he scared, so they hit him," Tu said. "I think he put him down and he hit him."
Surveillance cameras show the moment four men drive into the parking lot. With their faces covered, three jump out with guns and rush the door. Customer Tom Vo was dragged by one of the would-be robbers in an apparent attempt to use him as a shield.
"Real fast, just pushed me and pull me aside," Vo said. "One of them, then two of them. Two of them come in with the gun and start making pop."
The pop was the store clerk firing at the suspects. On the video you see two run out quickly and then eventually a third. They make their way to the getaway car with the clerk running out to fire again.
It's believed the suspects wound up down the street at an apartment complex trying to flag down an ambulance. Tu said he was wearing a pistol because the store had been robbed just 10 nights before. He doesn't think Monday's would-be robbers saw him until it was too late.
HPD confirmed that two of the suspects died of gunshot wounds at the hospital. They are still looking for one to two others.