New Jersey pharmacist pulls gun, fires at would-be robber

(CBS/AP) WINSLOW TOWNSHIP, N.J. - A southern New Jersey pharmacist pulled out a handgun and fired several shots at a would-be robber as he chased him from his store, authorities said. It was not known whether any of the shots hit the suspect, who had demanded narcotic painkillers.

Agyeman opened Jolin's Pharmacy only three months ago.

The Camden County prosecutor's office said that the pharmacist fired several shots with a handgun he legally owned. Agyeman told the Associated Press that he saw a gun on the robber, but investigators said they had not yet confirmed if the suspect had a weapon.

Authorities said the man fled on a mountain bike.

Agyemang was alone in the pharmacy at the time of the holdup around 2 p.m. Wednesday. The pharmacy is in a small strip mall in Winslow Township, about 30 miles southeast of Philadelphia.

Agyemang said the robber demanded OxyContin and other painkillers, but the pharmacist told the man he didn't have those drugs.

Agyemang told CBS Philadelphia that in hindsight, he wonders if his actions in the heat of the moment could have cost innocent lives.

"You don't know who's out there, it could be a child. You don't know who is out there so that's my main concern," he said.

Armed robberies at pharmacies nationwide have risen sharply in recent years, climbing 81 percent between 2006 and 2010, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Thieves are overwhelmingly taking oxycodone painkillers like OxyContin.

In April 2011, a gunman killed a pharmacist in Trenton before stealing $10,000 in pills. Two months later in Long Island, N.Y., a robber gunned down a pharmacist, a teenage store clerk and two customers before leaving with a backpack full of pills.