Smoke shop worker reportedly shoots crook outside shop after would-be robber tackled him in store, held gun to his head, pointed guns at him while running off

An Arizona smoke shop worker reportedly shot a would-be robber outside the Glendale store last week after the assailant tackled the worker in the shop, held a gun to his head, and pointed guns while running off.

What are the details?

Officers responded around 11:45 p.m. Thursday to reports of shots fired near 67th and Glendale Avenues and found a man shot multiple times, KTVK-TV reported, adding that police said the man was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries.

Surveillance video shows the would-be robber pushing the worker though the shop door, tackling the employee, and holding a gun to the back of the worker's head.

Image source: YouTube screenshot

Image source: YouTube screenshot

Image source: YouTube screenshot

But amid a struggle, the worker manages to flip the assailant over, a gun appears to fire, and the employee stands up and runs behind the counter.

Image source: YouTube screenshot

Image source: YouTube screenshot

Image source: YouTube screenshot

Here's raw video from inside the shop:

RAW VIDEO: Clerk fights off armed robber at Glendale smoke shopyoutu.be

What happened next?

The owner of the shop told KTVK the would-be robber was injured before running from the store.

The owner added to KSAZ-TV that his employee had a gun in his waistband when he was attacked, and the assailant reportedly managed to take the employee's gun before running outside — and pointed both weapons at the worker.

With that, the clerk grabbed a rifle from behind the counter, followed the suspect outside, and shot him, KTVK said.

The shop owner told KTVK his clerk is cooperating as detectives investigate.

'Fighting for his life'

The owner of the shop — called Smoke Casa — told KSAZ the store was just about to close when the would-be robber forced his way inside the shop.

"He was literally attacked at the front door," the owner told KSAZ of his employee.

The owner added to KSAZ that amid the struggle on the floor, his employee was "fighting for his life" and "in his mind he doesn't know if he's gonna make it or not."

The owner added to KSAZ that authorities detained his employee that night, and he said was frustrated by that because his employee was acting in self-defense.

"Do you just wait to see what [the would-be robber] decides to do?" the owner noted to KSAZ. "Not necessarily. We're talking about life or death here."

The owner told KSAZ that "somebody illegally used their firearm to threaten my employee's life, and in return my employee had to defend his life."

Glendale smoke shop owner says his employee shot man in self-defenseyoutu.be

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