At 5:45 a.m., the 7-11 on 8th Avenue South in White Center, Washington was open for business much like any other day. The clerk, a 58-year-old Seattle man, was drinking his morning coffee as one of his daily regular customers perused the shop.

Much like any other day…. until a masked man entered the store wielding a hatchet and starting swinging it toward a customer before turning his attention toward the clerk.

Thankfully, the clerk’s regular customer, a 60-year-old Seattle man, was in possession of a handgun and a concealed carry permit. He drew his gun and shot the man, immediately stopping the attack.

“Fortunately, because of this customer with his weapon, this could have been a lot worse,” said King County Sheriff’s Sergeant Cindi West.

The attacker is described as a man in his 40’s and medics pronounced him dead at the scene.

Witnesses say the hatchet-wielding man didn’t say a word during his grizzly attack, and although the clerk suffered minor injuries to his stomach, it could have ended much, much worse.

“The clerk could be the one laying there dead on the floor right now.”

Investigators describe the neighborhood surrounding the 7-11 store where the attack took place as “quiet” and state this is the violent incident the store has seen.

Hats off to the King County Sheriff’s investigators for acknowledging the customer who shot the man did nothing wrong and are happy he was there to intervene.

…or should I say “hat-chets off”?