Less than 24 hours after NBC4 first covered the Inland Empire store owner who successfully fended off armed robbers, the story has gone national. But it seems the 80-year-old hero at the center of it all is staying humble about his new celebrity status.
"I never thought about it much," said Norco store owner Craig Cope, when asked what it felt like to be called a hero. "I think others would have done the same thing had they been in the same circumstance."
That's not so obvious to anyone else who hears his story.
It was early Sunday morning when several men, armed with assault weapons, tried to rob Cope's convenience store.
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But, as can be seen on the security camera footage that captured the interaction, Cope answered the would-be robbers with his own firepower.
The man Cope shot at fled back to the stolen BMW, where his accomplishes were waiting.
They'd picked the wrong store, and the wrong store owner.
"They just thought it was some old man down here," Cope said. "I’m sure they didn’t expect to be in jail or the hospital today."
He's now being hailed as a hero for having the courage to stand his ground.
Business has since been good, with people arriving to offer support and thanks. Some are coming from miles away.
"Just seeing someone stick up for themselves, it's good to see," said one man who stopped by the store on Tuesday. "So I came up from Vegas, I grew up here, and it's a tight-knit community. I'm happy to see it."
The wounded gunman was taken to the hospital with a shot gun blast to the arm.
The three others were later arrested for attempted robbery and conspiracy charges.
"I think they will learn their lesson… but other people should have different thoughts, because it just isn’t going to pay off in the long run for them," Cope said.
