A Deerfield Beach convenience store clerk shot and killed a masked robber this weekend — the second time in six years that store personnel shot a would-be robber.
This time, police say Raymond B. Prescott II, 44, died in a shootout with the owner and two clerks at Snappy’s Convenience Store, on Southeast 10th St., just east of Dixie Highway.
In 2010, a man was hospitalized with a gunshot wound after trying to rob the business.
The store owner, Samar Al-Madi, has no apologies about the six guns he keeps handy at his store.
“When you carry cash, everyone can be your enemy,” he said.
Broward Sheriff’s Office deputies arrived at the business at 7:40 p.m. Friday to find a masked man dead on the ground, Gina Carter, sheriff’s office spokeswoman, said Friday.
Al-Madi, 54, and his nephew, Hamam Al-Falah, 24, were both in the line of fire Friday evening. But they were back behind the store counter Saturday afternoon, doing business and telling anyone who asked exactly what had happened.
Al-Falah was talking with a customer when he noticed a masked man coming up behind the customer. He said he didn’t even have time to comply with the robber’s demand for money when bullets from the gun the robber pointed at him started to fly.
“I grabbed a gun,” said Al-Falah, gesturing toward a paper bag wedged next to the cash register. “And started shooting.”
Another clerk, Dexter Leon, 29, of Deerfield Beach, also grabbed a gun and started shooting, Carter said.
Al-Falah’s uncle also came running. Al-Falah said the first gun he had grabbed jammed. He felt a bullet whiz over his head. He ducked. He threw down the first gun and grabbed another from behind the counter, firing it. This time the robber went down.
Al-Madi told his nephew, who moved here from Jordan six months ago, to call police. But he called his cousin, who told him to call the police.
The whole thing didn’t hit Al-Falah until the police came.
“I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t stand up,” he said. “They gave me oxygen.”
This is the third time Al-Madi has been in a shooting situation. The first time was in 1999, when he was working at Abco Food Store on Northeast Second Avenue in Deerfield Beach, he said. In 2010, he was sitting in the office at Snappy’s when his son shot a would-be robber in the jaw.
That man, Alexander Brown, now 30, survived and is serving 30 years in state prison, state records show.
Chuck Wolfe, who runs a tree service, Chuck’s Arbor Touch in Davie, shook his head upon hearing the account of what had happened Friday. “That’s crazy,” he said.
The store’s video surveillance confirmed witness accounts of the robbery, according to the sheriff’s office.
Detectives think Prescott might have been involved in similar crimes in Palm Beach and Broward counties. He had a criminal history related to drug trafficking and was on probation, according to a sheriff’s news release.
Less than 24 hours after the shooting, Al-Madi on Saturday came alive at the suggestion that perhaps it’s time to move.
“We’ll stay here forever,” he said, dropping his fist on the counter. “We’re just trying to make a living.”
ageggis@sun-sentinel.com, 561-243-6624 or @AnneBoca
