Fort Worth, Texas

From Fort Worth’s CBS11tv.com of December 7, 2006

Sisters Defend Store, Ward Off Would-Be Robber

Forty years worth of drive-up service at the Douglas Grocery Store in north Fort Worth came to a screeching halt on Saturday afternoon.

A man with a gun rushed inside.

53-year-old Irene Vargas was sitting in her familiar chair just inside the door. “He said, 'Give me your money or I'm going to shoot you. I'm going to kill you.' He put the gun here and hit me in the head twice,” she said.

Irene’s sister, 50-year-old Christine Vargas, was standing behind the counter. “When I saw the pistol hit her head," she said, "I knew it wasn't a joke.”

Christine wanted to protect her sister. “I pulled the tray out, which made a noise to attract his attention. Then I pulled the pistol, and knew I had to shoot because it was either him or us.”

Vargas fired two shots from her 38-Special. She missed the gunman, but did get his attention.

“I told him, 'If you can run, you'd better run fast, because if I get a chance I'm going to kill you,'" Vargas said. "He ran and that was it.”

The man got away, but the two sisters stayed at work. “She'll protect me, I'll protect her. That's how we are,” said Irene.

Saturday’s incident was the second armed robbery at the store in 10 years. Christine took the first shots during that robbery, too. “I’m not going to go without a fight. I’m going to take somebody with me,” said Christine.