Brave Shopkeeper Fights Two Armed Teenagers To Defend Her Children, Brother From Being Attacked

In an attempt to save the lives of her child and brother, a brave shopkeeper fought off two armed teenagers who barged into her store.

The incident happened on March 30, at the Goddard Convenience Store in west Hull, England.

In the store’s CCTV footage, the shopkeeper, 32-year-old Vijitha Jeyathevan, is seen defending herself and her brother from two 14-year-old boys, one armed with a shotgun and another with a large knife.

Vijitha was alerted after she heard a commotion downstairs. Her brother, Thaya Karan, was crying for help.

"I heard shouts of help from my brother, who had been on the shop floor and threatened with a gun and forced to hand cigarettes to one of the attackers," she told Hull Dailymail.

When she reached the shop floor, she saw her brother being held at gunpoint. The gunman is seen hitting Thaya on the face, thrice with the gun’s butt.

"I came from upstairs with some metal bar in defense and saw my brother stood there with his head bleeding and his hands up in the air with a gun pointed at his head, and I thought at first that he had been shot already because of all the blood," she said.

"Then out of nowhere another man came at me with a knife and tried to stab me in the stomach and then the chest," she added.

According to Vijitha, her daughter and a baby were also in the store at the time of the incident, however, the attackers did not spot them.

"I felt so scared for myself and for my brother and my young daughter and a baby downstairs and really thought we might die," Vijitha said.

Without any second thoughts, Vijitha pounced on one of the attackers and pinned him down to the floor. The second teenager is seen escaping the store at this time.

Vijitha managed to grab the gun from the attacker and began hitting him while he grappled with her brother.

The sister-brother duo locked the attacker inside the store and immediately informed the police.

"It was absolutely terrifying - it lasted for around 10 minutes in all but it felt like hours and the man with the gun had me by the neck at one point before we managed to get the gun off him," Vijitha told the outlet.

Humberside Police responded to the scene and arrested one of the teenagers. He was suffering from a minor injury.

The second suspect handed over himself at Clough Road police station after a short while.

Thaya who suffered minor head injuries during the attack described his sister as a "hero" and thanked her for saving his life.