BAY POINT, Calif. – A U.S. Air Force veteran working as a clerk in a northern California market shot and killed a robbery suspect Sunday after the armed intruder pistol-whipped him in the head with a handgun, according to reports.
Surveillance video captured the moment two armed, masked robbery suspects stormed Kam’s Market in Bay Point, Calif., located in the San Francisco Bay area around 11 p.m. The footage shows one suspect approach Mark Kasbrowicz behind the register and hit him in the head with his gun, knocking him to the ground. As the suspect loaded cash into his bag, Kasbrowicz managed to get up and grab the store’s gun out of a drawer.
“I don’t know if it was fear and adrenaline kicked in together, but I tried to protect myself a little. He forced me onto the ground, he held me down,” Kasbrowicz told KGO-TV. He said his co-worker was being held at gunpoint by the second suspect off-camera during the struggle.
Exclusive video at this hour on @nbcbayarea: A retired Air Force veteran shoots and kills an East Bay robbery suspect – and another gunman in the holdup is on the run. Live reports on Today In The Bay every half hour starting at 5 – streaming at https://t.co/3w0gJl7DlU pic.twitter.com/86q0o6uqVR
— Thom Jensen (@ThomJInTheBay) December 23, 2019
The situation escalated when the masked man noticed Kasbrowicz was armed. He began to beat Kasbrowicz until one of the guns went off, causing him to flee the store. That’s when Kasbrowicz fired at him.
“I just looked around, and he was running, and just by instinct, I let go a shot,” Kasprowicz told KNTV. “I managed to squeeze off one round, and apparently after the fact I found out that I actually hit him.”
We just talked to the clerk who was pistol whipped during a robbery last night. He says the ER nurses told him they could see the imprint of the gun in his head. He is ok. He shot and killed his attacker. pic.twitter.com/0yfIbSYGRi
— Amy Hollyfield (@amyhollyfield) December 23, 2019
The suspect who attacked Kasbrowicz collapsed in the parking lot and died from the gunshot wound, reports said. The second suspect managed to run out of the store and escape. Kasbrowicz received 17 staples in the head after the incident. Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office said Kasprowicz acted in self-defense and is continuing to search for the second man who fled the scene.
“Sure he is deceased now but then again I’m lucky to be alive, I am lucky my co-worker is alive,” Kasbrowicz said of the man he killed. “I was certainly in shock when I saw the video. I didn’t know how serious it was until I actually saw it.”
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