Aug 27, 2008 9:52 am US/Eastern
Chicago Mini-Mart Workers Fight Off Armed Robbers
Robbers Left With Gunshot, Stab Wounds
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
Chicago police are looking for at least one suspect in an attempted robbery in the Brighton Park neighborhood. Another suspect is in the hospital, after being shot and stabbed.
Longtime customers of the convenience store were grateful Tuesday to learn the store's owner and his son had survived the attempted armed robbery.
"As nice as they are, that's a shame that anything like this did happen," said Fred Bramasco, a customer for 10 years.
"He's an angel to the people and it's a shame they got robbed," said customer John Anderson.
The brazen crime was caught on store surveillance tape from several different angles. The incident occurred about 3 p.m. Monday at the Brighton Mini Mart in the 2500 block of West 47th Street. Two men walked into the store separately. They appeared to shop, and one even paid for a couple of items, but just seconds later, he leapt over the counter and attacked the store's owner trying to get to the money in the cash register.
The owner managed to fight him off, but the suspects attacked his son, and two shots were fired. One of those shots hit one of the suspects in the foot.
The store's owner says fearing they were going to kill his son, he grabbed a knife and stabbed one of the men in the shoulder He used so much force that the blade broke off in the suspect's back.
The stabbing victim shot himself in the foot with his own gun during the struggle, which was captured by the store's security cameras, a source said.
The suspects fled the scene in a red van. The man who was shot and stabbed later went to a hospital for help. That's where police caught up with him.
It's comforting news to those who frequent the mini mart, but they say they still can't believe they almost lost their friends to such a violent crime.
"To come in and for a lousy couple of dollars to go through all this hassle to try to hurt or kill someone, it don't make sense at all period," Bramasci said.
Chicago police say they are still looking for the suspect who was wearing the striped shirt in the surveillance video.
They also say there might be a third suspect who drove the get-away van.
It was unknown whether the two took anything from the store.
The suspect who was injured remained hospitalized as of early Tuesday afternoon, and charges were pending his release, according to police News Affairs Officer Laura Kubiak.
The second suspect remains at large. Wentworth Area detectives are investigating.
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