A convenience store clerk sustained only minor injuries after he was shot at and his cell phone stopped the bullet during a robbery early Monday morning.
“It’s a miracle he’s able to be with us today because technically that round could have been life threatening,” said Lt. Scott Allen with Winter Garden Police.
Winter Garden Police said around 4:30 a.m. a man entered the Hess gas station on State Road 535 and Highway 50 and demanded that the clerk open the safe.
The clerk was unable to open the safe and when a second clerk entered the store, police said the suspect told him to open the safe but he was also unable to. Investigators said as the suspect left the store he fired a single round, striking one of the clerks in his abdomen. The victim sustained only minor injuries because the round struck his cell phone, stopping the bullet, police said.
“They were there for a while before they even realized that he had been shot. He had complained about having some chest pains and when they started looking in deeper, they realized his phone had a bullet lodged in it and it was damaged from it,” said Allen.
The suspect is described as a black male, 6 feet tall, wearing a dark colored hooded sweatshirt and pants, sunglasses, bright yellow traffic vest, and white gloves. Police released a composite sketch Monday.
Anyone with information is asked to call Winter Garden Police at (407) 656-6633.