An attempted armed robbery in the early-morning hours Friday was foiled when a clerk at the 7-Eleven store in Hudgins knocked the gun from the perpetrator’s hand, according to a report from Mathews County Sheriff Mark Barrick.

The lone gunman, Barrick said, entered the store at approximately 3:30 a.m., displayed a revolver and ordered the clerk to give him money. As the suspect and clerk entered the back room, the clerk, becoming fearful for his life, turned on the gunman, knocking the weapon from his hand and shutting the door on him, confining him in the back room, the sheriff said. A citizen happened to stop by the store at that time and called 911.

Barrick and other members of the sheriff’s office made a tactical entry into the back room, apprehending the suspect, who had hidden himself. The sheriff’s office recovered the loaded revolver and other evidence. The clerk suffered a minor injury to his right hand during the scuffle with the suspect, Barrick said.

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