Marine Corps veteran thwarts armed suspect demanding cash from bar

An armed suspect probably didn't consider that the man he or she was demanding money from would be trained in combat.

Surveillance video released by the Altoona Police Department shows a hooded suspect walking the bartender of Ajay's Bar on Maple Avenue toward the cash register at gunpoint around 1 a.m. Wednesday.

The bartender is seen grabbing cash from the register as the suspect stands near him. As the bartender, who happens to be a retired Marine Corps combat veteran, reaches his arm out to hand over the cash, he lunges toward the suspect, tackling him or her to the ground, the video shows.

During the scuffle, the firearm went off, but the bullet missed both the bartender and the suspect, police said.

The bartender then disarmed the suspect and turned the gun on him or her, the video shows. The suspect then fled from the bar through a side door, according to authorities.

The suspect was described by police as a light-skinned black male or female and is believed to "have obvious facial injuries" from being struck by the gun during the struggle.

Police followed a trail of blood from the side door of the bar, but it ended near a backyard of a home down the road, authorities said.

The gun was recovered and the bartender was not injured, according to police.