A would-be robber was shot and killed Saturday morning in New Smyrna Beach as a store owner was opening up his shop. The robber was shot twice in the chest by a security guard at the Medicine Shoppe pharmacy Saturday at 10:15 a.m. Police said the masked robber entered the store at 653 N. Dixie Freeway, put a gun to the head of the pharmacist and demanded drugs. That's when the man with the gun was shot and killed by the security guard. Neighboring store owners said the Medicine Shoppe had heard rumors lately that they were going to be held up, and as a result had hired the security guard. "It was kind of chaotic," said neighboring store owner Julie Mokas. "Everyone was peeking out their doors. No one knew what was going on." According to neighboring shop owners, the security guard is a retired sheriff's deputy who is related to an employee of the Medicine Shoppe. However, police would not confirm that. "They were tipped off that somebody was gonna rob them, and they had an undercover cop sitting in there," Mokas said. The shooting is being investigated by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the state attorney's office but police appear to support the guard's actions. "The security guard did what he had to do, and he protected the pharmacist," said New Smyrna Beach police Sgt. Michael Brouillette. The pharmacist and one clerk, who were in the store at the time of the hold-up, were not harmed. The store had been held up twice before. It was robbed in May 2006 and April 2007. Both were armed hold-ups with suspects looking for drugs. The suspect have been identified as being Keith Allen Higginbotham.
A would-be robber was shot and killed Saturday morning in New Smyrna Beach as a store owner was open...
