CLEVELAND -- A man is dead after allegedly attempting to rob a gas station on Cleveland's east side Tuesday morning.

Many times, an innocent convenience store clerk gets gunned down, but NewsChannel5's Adam Shapiro reported that this time, the alleged robber paid the price.

Witnesses said that an unidentified robber burst into the Citgo gas station on East 156th Street with a gun and demanded money. The robber was apparently unaware that the cashier also had a gun.

"Nobody knows the outcome, nobody knows what's going to happen when they have a gun in their face," said Sofien Saad (pictured, below), the Citgo owner. "Nobody knows what's going on in the guy's head behind the trigger and what he's thinking and if he will shoot (him) in the head or not, so he took action before the robber could take action himself."

Saad's brother defended not only his life Tuesday morning, but the lives of customers who Saad said were also being threatened by the robber.

"I heard shots, so I don't know if he was shot while he was running or in the store," witness Linda St. Clair said. "It happened so fast."

Witnesses said that the robber ran out of the store after he was shot in the chest and collapsed on the sidewalk.

He was pronounced dead at Huron Hospital.

"You can't blame any store owner for defending (himself) in light of the fact that so many of them have been killed in this city," City Councilman Mike Polensek said.

The store was robbed at gunpoint three weeks ago, and Saad said that incident and the murder of convenience store clerk Johnny Yayha were fresh on the minds of everyone who works at the store.

"Armed robbery doesn't pay," Saad said. "It's unfortunate, but in the end, there will be a fatality, and who's it going to be, you know? Don't rob; get a job."

The gas station reopened for business Tuesday afternoon. Saad's brother remains shaken up, NewsChannel5 reported.

A coroner is performing an autopsy, and officials are investigating.