BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. -- The clerk who shot a robber was back at work Wednesday morning and police say he was well within his rights to gun the man down Tuesday night.

A robber who pulled the gun on a Brevard County gas station owner probably didn't expect he would be the one who got shot. The owner shot the 40-year-old suspect when he tried to rob the Chevron gas station on South Cocoa Boulevard in Cocoa (see map) around 9:30 Tuesday night.

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AT THE SCENE: Images Of Suspect, Clerk

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Cops say the suspect, 40-year-old Stephen Hunt of Titusville, pulled a revolver on the clerk and demanded cash. The clerk, who also owns the store, pulled out a pistol of his own and shot the accused robber in the stomach.

“He didn't say nothing, he walked here, and comes through here then he pulled a gun,” clerk Sowann Suy said.

Hunt was airlifted to Holmes Regional Medical Center. The clerk, 40-year-old Sowann Suy, was not injured. Suy said he'd prepared himself for such a moment with a Colt .45.

“I got no choice. He threatened me and pulled a gun on me. I got not choice. I gotta fight back,” he said.

Suy told Eyewitness News the gunman begged for mercy after being shot.

“He told me, ‘Oh, I've got children, call 911,’ I said, ‘I will call 911. Don't move. Stay right here,” Suy described.

It was the second time in as many weeks that a clerk has fought back against a burglar. A 70-year-old Melbourne store owner, Willie Byrd, pulled a gun on two armed robbers and shot one of them.

Officers say there were no charges filed against either clerk. In both cases, the suspects were left with non-life threatening injuries and the clerks' actions were considered self defense.

For Suy it all came down to one thing, his life.

“If I don't do it, they kill me. That's it,” he said.

Hunt is expected to undergo surgery Wednesday. He faces armed robbery charges.