'Then shoot me': Gutsy woman stands up to gun-toting thug who threatened to open fire if she didn't hand over store's cash

Marie Paradis — manager of a gas station convenience store connected to Stone's Auto Repair in St. Albans, Vermont — had been on edge after a number of robberies in the area in a short period of time.

Image source: YouTube screenshot

Paradis shared with WPTZ-TV that her instincts told her to prepare for trouble Wednesday morning.

“I went and heated some coffee, and I double-heated it to almost boiling," she recounted to the station. "Because I just had this feeling that if they tried something, I’m going to throw the coffee.”

Image source: YouTube screenshot

Sure enough, Paradis saw a man dressed in all black and wearing a face mask approach the store, WPTZ noted.

"I knew something was wrong, and I was ready for him," she added to the station.

Paradis told WPTZ she had already pressed the panic button when the man walked to the front counter — and he was carrying a gun, as surveillance video shows:

Image source: YouTube screenshot

'Open up the till'

"He said, 'Open up the till,' and I said no," she recalled to the station.

Paradis recounted the crook's persistence to WPTZ — though she redacted his profanity: "I said open up the effin' till and give me all the money."

She replied to the armed robber that the till's contents were staying put, the station said: "You're not getting any money from me."

With that, the crook threatened to open fire.

'Then shoot me'

"I am going to shoot you if you do not give me that money," the man threatened, according to her recollection to WPTZ.

Paraidis added to the station that she replied, "Then shoot me, because you're not getting the money."

Video shows Paradis chucking her coffee toward the armed man's head:

Image source: YouTube screenshot

Then she pepper-sprayed him, forcing him to cover up and retreat:

Image source: YouTube screenshot

He ended up taking off with some cigarettes and e-cigarettes — and no cash, the station said.

"I was thinking, 'I'm here to serve the people, and I'm here to protect this store," Paradis told WPTZ. "And that's what I'm gonna do, and I would do it again."

Paradis added to the station that she was too angry to feel fear in that moment: "These are hardworking people that I work for, and I’m sick and tired of the robberies. Eight robberies in the last two weeks on our community. I’ve had it."

The store owners told WPTZ they're grateful Paradis is OK — but they're frustrated that their employees must concern themselves with safety at work.

"Our employees have to come to work every day and worry about whether they’re gonna be broken into or not," Kim Stone told the station. "That shouldn’t be their first concern."

WPTZ said despite some businesses having been hit twice by the rash of recent, very public robberies, police have yet to nab the culprits.

"We're small-business owners, and you work hard for your money," Stone added to the station. "And for someone to just come and just try to steal it, it just makes you angry."

WPTZ said it contacted the St. Albans Police Department for comment but was told no one was available to speak with the news station.

St. Albans store clerks fights back against suspect as string of robberies remain unsolvedyoutu.be

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