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When Ricardo Lopez opened the Purple Dragon cannabis dispensary around one year ago on West Hildebrand Ave, he decided armed security was a necessity to protect his employees. On Saturday morning, three would-be robbers found themselves in a shootout.

"Crime is always anticipated but this night it got out of hand," Lopez said.

Three men, two of which were armed, busted into the business around 3 a.m. Saturday morning. One gunman pointed his handgun at the clerk behind the counter and a second gunman circled the room looking for any resistance.

He found it.

A security guard on the other side of the room immediately pulled the slide back on his gun and exchanged fire with that second gunman. The attacker was hit and sent diving to the ground with injuries. The first gunman turned and fired at the security guard twice before turning and running out the door. The third robber immediately disappeared when he heard shots.

"Our security took action to neutralize the threat as quickly as possible and did a great job," Lopez said.

Unfortunately, the security guard had also been hit three times in the first exchange of gunfire. He was now lying on a couch while the gunman he shot was on the floor on the other side of a wall.

As the clerk looked over the counter, she saw that the gunman was still holding a pistol in his hand while on the floor. She ducked behind the counter for cover.

Then, as the clerk tried to call 911 for help, a would-be customer opened the door to find out what had happened. Despite the gunman still posing a threat, the clerk jumped up and repeatedly warned the customer to leave before ducking back behind the counter.

"The other employee handled everything spot-on perfect. She got the ambulance out as quickly as she could and everyone was taken care of," Lopez said.

The gunman did not fire at the clerk but when the security guard tried to get up and walk out of the room, the gunman shot him once more in the back. Police arrived on the scene 20 minutes later and secured the suspect without shots being fired.

Police said the security guard was taken to the hospital and was soon in stable condition. Lopez said the security guard is expected to recover. The gunman was still in critical condition this morning, according to police.