NEW ORLEANS - When two men tried to rob a New Orleans gas station, the attendant fought back, using a chair as a weapon.

WWL-TV reports that Key's Fuel Mart, a 24-hour store on North Rampart Street, was approached by armed robbers around 3 a.m., Sunday. 

The thieves expected to get away with some quick cash and, instead, found themselves face to face with an employee who had no intention of letting them get away. 

Ameer Karakra, a relative of the storeowners, said he happened to be walking by during the robbery and he told WWL-TV what he saw, "I thought they (two men who'd walked inside of the store) were going to buy something, but then I saw them come out running, and I saw the bullets going out from their weapons."

Both men were wearing bandannas and hats. Surveillance video shows them standing inside the store for about 20 seconds until one of them brandishes a gun. According to the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD), that's when the men demanded money and got a chair thrown at them instead.

Karakra said, "He refused to give them money...he is a very, very tough guy."

The clerk followed the suspects outside and threw the chair at them as they ran down the street. 

Though heroic, the act was dangerous. As one of the armed robbers was fleeing, he turned around and shot at the clerk, but missed. 

Police say the two suspects have yet to be identified.