Story By: Ana Lacasa, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News
Video Credit: CEN
This is the moment a heroic shop owner defending his daughter blasts an armed robber dead despite being badly wounded himself.
The startling incident took place in the canton of Moravia, in the province of San Jose, in Costa Rica, and was recorded by the shop’s CCTV camera as the shopkeeper tried to protect his daughter from the armed thief.
In the video, a man wearing a motorbike helmet can be seen walking into the shop and he appears to demand the money from the till.
A girl, reportedly the shopkeeper’s daughter, walks away from the till and is comforted by a woman before the thief begins sprinting away and shooting at the shopkeeper who has appeared next to his daughter to protect her.
The criminal shoots the glass pane next to the till which shatters and the shopkeeper is apparently hit by a bullet. He ends up lying on the floor in the broken glass.
The shopkeeper lies face down on the floor and the thug sprints up to him but at the last second the owner springs into action, repeatedly firing at the thug from close range, sending him crashing to the ground.
The thief is left in a motionless heap whilst the shopkeeper can be seen bleeding profusely.
The robber eventually manages to move and a customer in the shop then gets on top of him. Another clip shows the shopkeeper lying on the ground and bleeding from his head as customers try to help whilst the thug lies face down on the ground.
Local media report the thief, surnamed Quesada, 32, who lived in the canton of Moravia and did not have a criminal record, was killed in the incident from a bullet wound to the head.
The shopkeeper suffered wounds to his neck and head and was taken to the Calderon Guardia hospital.
Picture Credits: CEN
Alberto Mata, from the homicide department of the judicial investigation organisation, said the shopkeeper had been trying to convince the thief not to harm his daughter when the criminal opened fire.
Quesada reportedly had an accomplice who was waiting outside the shop on a motorbike but he fled the scene and has not yet been found.
There are no updates on the condition of the shopkeeper, reportedly a Syrian national.
The police investigation into the case is ongoing.
