Story By:  Ana Marjanovic, Sub-Editor: Michael Leidig, Agency:  Newsflash

An armed robber got a taste of instant karma when he was shot dead by a security guard during a blood-soaked shootout.

Graphic CCTV footage of the gun battle emerged from a Banco Siccob branch in Sao Mateus do Maranhao, Maranhao state, northern Brazil after the attempted robbery on 20th June.

Police later identified the robber as Nilton Cesar Silva Aguiar, an escaped prisoner who was serving 26 years for killing a cop in an earlier robbery.

The gunman bled to death after being shot in the neck while trying to kidnap a member of staff.

Shocking footage of the shooting shows how the gunman runs toward the armed security guard watching the bank’s revolving door.

Local media said the robber was trying to capture the guard to hold him hostage.

But as he aims the handgun at the guard, the guard fires his own weapon, hitting Silva Aguiar in the neck and apparently severing an artery.

The wound instantly starts spurting, leaving a trail of blood all over the bank floor as the gunman tries to shoot the guard.

Silva Aguiar desperately tries to stem the flow of blood by clamping his hand over the gunshot wound.

But finally, he staggers towards the bank’s glass revolving door and slowly collapses in a huge pool of his own blood.

Two other suspects who were also in on the robbery managed to flee unhurt.

The guard – who was shot in the arm – was treated at a local hospital.

Maranhao Civil Police later revealed that the gunman was one of 10 inmates who had escaped from a penitentiary in Teresina, Piaui state, on 5th April.

He had been sentenced to 26 years and three months behind bars in March 2017 for shooting dead Military Police officer Erisvan Mesquita Silva, 38, during an armed robbery in Teresina in 2015.

He was also being investigated for participating in the kidnapping of a businessman in Castelo do Piaui, Piaui state, on 13th April, shortly after his escape from prison.