Would-be robber shot, killed by Ariz. store owner

The owner of a Chandler jewelry store shot and killed a would-be robber after the two exchanged gunfire, police said Sunday.

Two men, one of them armed with a gun, attempted to rob Christopher Diamonds on Saturday evening, Chandler police Detective David Ramer said.

The store's owner, overhearing the robbery in progress, grabbed a gun and confronted the suspects. He and the armed robber exchanged several rounds of gunfire; both were hit.

The injured suspect fled the store in a stolen truck while the other suspect ran into a nearby neighborhood. The truck later stopped on a nearby freeway, and the suspect was taken to a hospital after officers tried to revive him. He died at the hospital.

Officers later found the second suspect in the neighborhood and arrested him.

Ramer said the 58-year-old store owner, who was shot in the face, will survive.

``You have a right to defend yourself, and he did a good job of that,'' Ramer said of the store owner.

Neither the identities of the suspects nor the store's owner were released.

A message left at the store was not immediately returned Sunday.