Store employee fatally shoots armed robber in western NC

CANDLER, N.C. (AP) - Authorities in western North Carolina say a 21-year-old man was fatally shot while robbing a Mexican grocery store.

The Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office says deputies found Darwin Villatoro lying on the ground near Tienda Mexicana in Candler about 8:30 p.m. Friday after a store employee called 911. The Asheville resident was pronounced dead at the scene.

The sheriff’s office says the employee who called 911 told deputies a robber brandished a gun, and the two exchanged gunfire.

The caller was not injured. He said the robber came in wearing a ski mask and glasses.

At the time, no one else was in the store, which sells Mexican and South American food.

Candler is about 10 miles from Asheville.