Florida: Would-be robber shot, killed by Seffner clerk

Seffner, Florida

From ABC Action News of May 27, 2008

Would-be robber shot, killed by Seffner clerk

Investigators were called to a Hillsborough County beverage store where a man attempting to rob the store was shot and killed.

It happened shortly after 6:30 Monday evening at the CNK Beverage Pit at 12002 E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. in Seffner.

According to witnesses an unknown suspect went into the store and tried to rob the clerk but was shot multiple times.

The suspect was transported to Brandon Regional Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

From Tampa Bay Online of May 27, 2008

Family Back At Work After Owner Kills Apparent Robber

Just hours after a store owner shot and killed an apparent robber, the owner's wife and daughter were back at work.

Karla Vigil, 47, said her husband, Cres Vigil, 46, was at home this morning. "He's pretty shaken up," she said. "It's not something he wanted to do."

Vigil said her husband had been working alone about 6:45 p.m. Monday when he was attacked at the CNK Beverage Pit, 12002 E. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. She said her husband was waiting for a customer's truck to pull farther into the drive-through bay when a masked man ran in through the exit of the drive-through beverage business. The driver took off, she said.

Vigil said the would-be robber swung at her husband, striking him in the head. The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said the assailant was unarmed, but Vigil disagreed.

"They found two cans of green beans in a sock. They were dented. That's how hard he hit my husband," she said. Her husband has a knot on his temple and on the back of his head, Vigil said.

Vigil said her husband shot the attacker and didn't know the man had died until this morning. The sheriff's office has not released the man's name.

"My husband is a very good man," she said. "He has a heart of gold."

She said the couple have kept the gun at the business because she was held up at gunpoint a year ago. In that incident, the robber obtained no money because Vigil screamed and homeless people hanging around the retention pond behind the business chased him away.

Despite the two robbery attempts, Vigil says they don't plan to sell the business they've owned for two years. "There are a lot of good people here. We've made a lot of friends. This could happen anywhere," she said.