Shots fired at Central Fresno market

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Two men have been charged with felony robbery after trying to rob a Vallarta Supermarket Wednesday afternoon.

Officers say a man shot at a security guard with a pellet gun at the store on at Cedar and Dakota Avenues and those guards shot back.

For shoppers, it was a chaotic scene unraveled in the parking lot of the supermarket. Officers say it started over unpaid groceries.

"All over beer, yes, ridiculous, I agree," Lt. Joe. Gomez of the Fresno Police Department said.

Officers say three suspects left the supermarket with stolen cases of Budweiser and Modelo. A loss prevention officer stopped one suspect, while a second escaped. The third decided to put up a fight.

"The guard grabs him," Gomez said. "As soon as he grabs him, he turns he pulls out what appeared to be a handgun, looks just like a Glock 17 and he shoots the guard in the head."

That weapon turned out to be a pellet gun, but police say security guards thought it was a real gun at the time and one of them fired back.

"He misses him, he shot in this area that we are standing," Gomez explained. "The suspect with the pellet gun runs towards the street."

Surveillance video shows the suspect running towards Cedar Avenue while two other guards chased after him. One fired a warning shot into the ground, while another shot towards the suspect and missed. Eventually, they detained him.

"It is dangerous, whenever you shoot you got to think about your backdrop, fortunately, they didn't fire a lot of bullets," Gomez said.

Officers describe both suspects as being in their 20s. The guard shot with the pellet gun is expected to be okay.

They hope this failed robbery attempt sends a message to other criminals.

"One thing is for sure," Gomez said. "Vallarta has some weapons out here, so if suspects think about hitting this place they should be concerned."