INDIAN RIVER COUNTY, Fla. — A convenience store employee in Indian River County took matters into her own hands when an armed man entered the store and ordered people out at gunpoint, according to deputies.
The incident occurred at Wabasso Foods last Friday and was largely captured on surveillance video. Deputies say a drunk man came to the store with a gun, threatening to kill one woman, leading her into the store and telling everyone else to get out.
WATCH: Worker tells deputies man was going through 'mental health crisis'
The worker behind the counter decided to take action, reaching into her purse and pulling out her own gun. Surveillance video shows the worker pushing the suspect out of the store.
The suspect was identified as Calvert Allen. The employee pointed a gun at Allen's face, and deputies say she began wrestling him for his gun in the parking lot.
Investigators say the woman fired two warning shots at Allen, then hit him with her gun until she was able to get control of his handgun, which she turned over to a responding deputy.
"I have the gun," the deputy can be heard saying in the video.
Allen is a frequent customer who the worker knows.
"He's going through a mental health crisis, he just got out of the behavioral health center," the worker said.
Once in custody, Allen told deputies in an interview that he contemplated shooting the worker in what "he believed would have been self-defense," but says he decided against it because "he liked her."
The worker, who did not want to go on camera, said she wants to put the incident behind her but told WPTV she still carries her concealed weapon at all times.
Allen is a convicted felon and is now facing new charges, including aggravated assault, possession of weapon/ammunition by a convicted Florida felon, and improper exhibition of firearm or dangerous weapon.
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