Armed confrontation at Garden City tobacco shop caught on video

The surveillance video from the Smoker's Depot in Garden City is jaw dropping.  Two men walked into the tobacco shop only a mile from the police department allegedly planning to pull off a robbery.  The store owner had a bad feeling, so he kicked them out.  There was a confrontation, then the one closest to the door pulled a gun.

"I told him we have a camera system in the store, so you're picture [is] already there," said owner Hussein Almawa.

The owner pointed to the surveillance system, but the men didn't care.  In anger, one of them tried to kick over a food display.  That is when the shop owner got mad, pulled the young man back into the store and punched him in the face.  The view from another camera shows he landed every hit.

"I [punched] him outside and [ran] to get my gun, so he tried to shoot me again," Almawa said.  "They [drove] behind the store and they came back and they [shot] at me again like four [bullets]."

The gunman fired four shots.  The shop owner ran to get his gun and then the gunman fired again.  The men left the store and circled around to do a drive-by.  At the same time a nearby shop owner rushed in to make sure everything was okay.  Once again, Almawa jumped into action throwing her to the ground with seconds to spare before the thieves doubled back for one last drive-by shattering the windows and speeding off.

Remember all of this took place about a mile from the police department, so it didn't take long for officers to respond.  Police told me they pulled the 18 and 20-year-old suspects over in an alley near the Smoker's Depot and arrested them.  They also said these two men matched the description of two other suspects involved in the robbery of another tobacco shop earlier that day.

The suspects will be arraigned this week.