Cincy store clerk distracts armed robber long enough to pull own gun and shoot

Cincinnati's NBC affiliate, WLWT, is reporting that a store clerk was able to protect himself from an armed robber by distracting the criminal long enough to draw his own gun and fire.

From the article:

Grayson Matthews was working at the family-owned 12th Street Market on Saturday night when a man wearing a garbage bag walked in and demanded money.

"I laid it on the counter and he demanded more," Matthews said. "He said, 'Now I want the rest,' and he puts the gun up in my face."

Matthews said he held the money in his left hand and tried to distract the robber.

"I knew his eyes would follow the money, and I said, 'I have more hidden here,' and when I reached down, I grabbed my pistol and started firing," Matthews said.

The robber fled the Hamilton market, and police later arrested 37-year-old Curtis Jason Wright and charged him aggravated robbery.

Neighbors on Monday discovered a bloody bag that police believe Wright wore during the robbery, as well as a fake gun.

Wright was hospitalized with a gunshot wound to his shoulder.

"Pretty scary when a guy walks in (wearing) a garbage bag with a shotgun sticking out of it, putting it in your face saying, 'I want the money, now,'" said Jim Combs, who owns the store and is Matthews' father.

Combs told WLWT the the robber was lucky that he wasn't working behind the counter.

"Because we'd be having a funeral instead of a trial," Combs said.