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3 women try to rob pharmacy owner at gunpoint; man fights back

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — Police are searching for three women after an attempted robbery at a local pharmacy.

The incident happened April 24 around 3:30 p.m. at PCI Pharmacy located on N. Decatur Road.

Officials confirmed with Channel 2's Christian Jennings that three women tried to a rob the pharmacy owner at gunpoint and then pepper sprayed him in the face when he fought back.

"I was helping her because she said she wanted a prescription and I was just waiting for her to pull the prescription out and instead of her prescription, she pulled out a gun. So I just had to react," Dr. Mba Kalu said.

Surveillance video shows Kalu barely flinch when the gun is pointed at him. He then reaches out and fights the gun away from one of the women.

"It's either they shoot you or you're going to have to fight them," Kalu said. "I thought, you know, I'm not going to go down like that. At least I have to go down fighting."

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Kalu said his daughter was in the back of the pharmacy when the women walked in, so he felt he had to act quickly.

"That was priority on my mind. I just had to do what I had to do to protect everybody," he said.

As he fought back, another woman began to spray him with pepper spray. It didn't stop him from wrestling the gun out of the other woman's hand.

As soon as he took control of the gun, the women ran out of the store and jumped into a silver or gray older-model car with damage to the right front fender and panel, according to police.

Kalu says it's the second time his pharmacy has been robbed since he opened last June.

He says in December three men came in wearing masks and carrying guns.

"In this field, it's something anticipated because of ongoing opioid abuse," Kalu said.

Kalu said he plans to step up security by keeping the door locked even when he's open and purchasing a gun and bullet proof glass for inside the pharmacy.