Canton butcher shop robbery suspect crawls into Mercy Medical Center ER after daytime shootout

CANTON, Ohio - A Canton robbery suspect crawled into the emergency room of Mercy Medical Center after he was shot by an employee at Hever's Family Meats, police said.

Surveillance video from  the hospital shows Isaiah Bush, 17, on his hands and knees after he was forced out of a gold Honda outside of the ER. The car sped off from the hospital and detectives were still searching for it Thursday afternoon.

Cpt. Dave Davis said a worker shot Bush twice in the chest and once in the leg during an exchange of gunfire Wednesday afternoon inside the butcher shop on Cleveland Avenue NW.

Another suspect, Digarrio McClendon, 19, also suffered three gunshot wounds and walked into Affinity Medical Center in Massillon, Davis said.

McClendon was released on Thursday and booked into the Stark County Jail.

Bush is under guard at Mercy Medical Center. 

Both teens are facing two counts of aggravated robbery, police said.

Investigators believe Bush and McClendon walked into the business at 12:07 p.m. and demanded money.

"Sometime during the course of the robbery attempt, one of the suspects fired a couple of shots. Fire was returned by one of the employees," Davis said.

None of the employees were hurt.

The owner of Hever's Family Meats, Mark Hever, declined to discuss the details of the terrifying ordeal. He told NewsChannel5 that he has owned the shop for 40 years and he's "just trying to make a living."

After the shooting, police said the injured robbery suspects ran from the store and jumped into a getaway car. Police were notified by the hospitals when the teens arrived with gunshot wounds.

Police said both teens had active warrants for unrelated crimes. Bush was wanted for burglary and McClendon was wanted for robbery.

Meanwhile, the shootout stunned customers of the family-owned business.

"I feel bad for the victims, but they brought it on themselves. You can't just come in and take something that doesn't belong to you," said Kelly Delgado of Canton.

"You have to do what you have to do to protect yourself, if they came in shooting," said Lynn Torgler, also of Canton.

Davis said employees of the store, including the man who shot the suspects, have been interviewed. Police do not expect charges to be filed against the worker because he was protecting himself and others.

Davis wasn't sure if the employee, who fired his gun, has a concealed carry permit.

"They had firearms in their store for protection and that's apparently what was used in this case," Davis said.

Police said Hever's was robbed by a different man with a shotgun last April. In that situation, employees subdued the robber until officers arrived.