The State : Young Worker Kills Robber

A 14-year-old convenience store employee in Bakersfield shot a robber to death and wounded a clerk when a rifle discharged as he loaded it, authorities said. The holdup man, who was in his early 20s, caused a commotion that attracted the attention of the unnamed 14-year-old in the back of the store, Kern County sheriff’s deputies said. When he saw the man reach into a cash drawer, the juvenile got a rifle. He returned to the front of the store, where clerk Eddie Gama, 20, had grabbed the robber, officers said. The rifle went off as the juvenile put a round in the chamber, and the bullet went through the robber’s body and lodged in Gama’s body, investigators said. The robber, whose name was not released, died at the scene. Gama was hospitalized in stable condition.