The victim of an attempted homicide who fought back, speaks out Wednesday. The incident happened at Almond Avenue Pharmacy in Madera around 6:30 on Tuesday night. The victim, Brian Lee, shot and killed a suspect, 30-year-old Aquilla Bailey. Madera police say Bailey and another suspect snuck into the pharmacy and fired at Lee and his mother.
What the suspects didn't know is that Lee is ex-military and carries a .45 caliber handgun. When the suspects came in shooting, hitting Lee's mother in the leg, his instincts kicked in.
Inside the Almond Avenue Pharmacy on Wednesday, it's business as usual. Remarkably, Brian and Sophie Lee are working behind the counter, just like they were on Tuesday night, right after closing. But blood stains on a glass door are evidence, that night was anything but ordinary.
"[The suspects] didn't say a word," said Lee.
Lee says two masked men slipped in through an open back door and started shooting. His mother was hit in the leg and Lee fired back.
"Obviously they wanted to kill us. What they wanted after that, I don't know," said Lee.
Madera police believe the suspects were after drugs. Bailey was hit with three bullets.
"He was shot in the face. then he was shot in the torso and once in the leg," said Chief Steve Frazier of the Madera Police Department.
Both suspects ran but only one got away. Bailey collapsed and died a couple blocks away. He left a trail of blood on the sidewalk. Police believe the pharmacy was targeted because of its location.
"Pretty easy on and off right there, and if you were to conduct a robbery, it's but a quarter of a mile and you're back on the freeway," said Frazier.
Lee says he's trying not to think about the incident, despite being back at the scene of the crime. He says he's glad he always carries a gun.
"Of course. Because the Madera chief said if it weren't for that, we'd be two corpses," said Lee.
Bailey was arrested by Fresno police back in August for home invasion. Charges were never filed. Madera police believe they have strong leads on the second suspect and hope to make an arrest soon.