Police: Would-be robber shot by Southside Metro PCS employee

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A would-be robber was shot Wednesday evening by an employee at a Metro PCS store on the Southside, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.

Lt. Dash said it happened around 5:30 p.m. at the location on Sunbeam Road in between Hood Road South and Philips Highway. During the attempted robbery, investigators said the would-be robber, later identified as Kareem Cropper, 46, was shot twice and ran from the store.

Brian Alvarenga, a barber at the nearby Kut Kingz Barbershop, said he was cutting someone's hair when an employee of the Metro PCS knocked on his window, saying he shot a man who tried to rob him.

"He (the clerk) said, 'This guy just tried to rob me over the counter. He tried to stab me with a knife over the counter. So I backed up, and I shot him,'" Alvarenga said.

Alvarenga said he and his co-workers rushed outside, where he said they saw the suspect in a nearby parking lot.

"It was a man shot on the ground, and he was by his car, and he looked like he was trying to get away," Alvarenga said.

Police said Cropper was taken to a hospital for treatment.