Surveillance videos caught the scary moments when a pair of armed, hooded males entered a Mesquite, Texas, store last Thursday.
Thing is, though, the owner of the Cash4Gold store on Town East Boulevard was ready for them, and he pulled out a gun of his own and quickly opened fire, KDFW-TV reported.
Image source: YouTube screenshot
“It’s a quick three seconds,” said Tien, the store owner, who gave the station only his first name for safety reasons. “No time to think. It’s all reaction.”
Image source: YouTube screenshot
What happened?
Video shows Tien in the back of the store when the two males walk through the store’s entrance — and one of them pulls out a gun, KDFW said.
But so does Tien:
Image source: YouTube screenshot
“Everything was slow motion to me,” Tien told the station. “I saw the mask, I saw the hoodie, I saw the gun come out.”
Image source: YouTube screenshot
KDFW reported that Tien shot first, and the two males fired back three times.
Image source: YouTube screenshot
The station said no one was hurt, but bullets hit a glass counter, walls, and Tien’s golf bag.
“Luckily, it wasn’t me,” he added to KDFW.
Not the first time
The station said last week’s shootout wasn’t the first time Tien was forced to defend his store.
In fact, he told KDFW that it was the third time he’s experienced a robbery attempt in the last five years — but in each instance, he scared off the intruders. Police captured the offenders in the last two robbery attempts, the station said.
July 2019 surveillance video shows two armed males entering Tien’s store — but he fired warning shots, after which the suspects ran off, KDFW reported.
“I think the cash business, the gold business, seems to be an easy target for them, or so they think, but it’s not,” Tien told the station.
Mesquite Police Lieut. Brandon Ricketts noted to KDFW that “our hope is that someone sees these videos, sees these images and recognizes [the suspects], especially the suspect that doesn’t have his face covered.”
Police added to the station that the two armed males from Thursday’s incident are looking at aggravated robbery charges if they’re caught.
Despite all his troubles, Tien noted to KDFW that’s not going anywhere.
Armed Mesquite store owner gets in shootout with would-be robbersyoutu.be
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