Clerk Shoots, Kills Would-Be Robber In Whittier

WHITTIER (CBSLA) — Police are investigating an armed robbery that erupted into a shootout that left one of the would-be robbers dead.

Bottle House Liquors, 6015 Norwalk Blvd., was just about to close at around 10 p.m. Monday when two suspects, dressed in dark hoodies with handkerchiefs over their faces, entered the store, according to the Whittier Police Department.

The clerk saw one of them was armed with a handgun, so he pulled out his own handgun and shot one of the suspects, police said.

The wounded suspect died at the scene. The other suspect was unharmed and ran away, police said.

Valerie Villaneda and her family live above the store. She said she was aware the clerk, a man in his 20s, had a gun in the store to protect himself because the neighborhood is dangerous.

"He was real shaken up, he was scared," Villaneda said. "They tried to rob him all the time."

No arrests were made and no other injuries were reported. Shell casings from another gun that were not the clerk's were found at the scene, police said.

Investigators are examining security video from the store, and have determined the second robber ran southbound on Norwalk. They say he is between 160 and 180 pounds, and between 5-foot-11 and 6 feet tall.

(© Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. City News Service contributed to this report.)