(SC)Police: Gaffney Store Clerk Shoots Robber Armed with Rifle

GAFFNEY, S.C. --

A Gaffney convenience store clerk fended off two armed robbers when he shot one of them with a handgun he had nearby, police said Tuesday morning.

Gaffney Police Chief Rick Turner said two men, one of them armed with a semi-automatic rifle and who had just been released from jail earlier that evening, walked into the Bargain Spot on Cherokee Avenue around 8:30 Monday night and tried to rob the clerk.

The man with the rifle stood at the door while the second man demanded the money bag, Turner said. But the store clerk was able to grab his handgun and fire at the man with the rifle.

Both men ran away from the store, and about an hour later police found one of the robbers who had been shot twice. Turner identified him as Lee Tate and said he was taken to the hospital, released, and then charged with armed robbery.

more here