Just after closing time on Nov 15, two armed robbers, later identified as Shawn Rose, 24, and Justin Rose, 22, entered Porfirio’s II at the corner of Veterans Highway and Trenton Road in Levittown.

“We were already closed but we leave the door open in case anybody comes,” Gilmer Porfirio, who owns the shop with his brother, told the Philadelphia Inquirer. “We know all the people here.”

One of the robbers went to the two employees at the counter, while the other focused his attention on the only customer in the pizzeria—a local businessman on his way home from work, according to Middletown Police. The customer put his hands up, but was hit with the robber’s handgun and knocked to the ground.

According to Middletown Police, the customer then pulled out his registered Glock pistol and fired at the robber. The robber turned around with the weapon in his hand and pointed it at the customer. Then the customer fired his gun.

Shawn Rose was shot first in the torso and asked for help and water as he laid on the floor of the shop. A few feet away, Justin Rose fell to the ground and was quickly rushed to St. Mary Medical Center in Langhorne before being transported to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia in serious condition.

“It was a robbery, and appears the customer was defending himself,” Middletown Township Police Chief Joe Bartorilla told reporters at the scene.

Police confirmed that the two employees were not injured and the customer, who did not want to be identified, only suffered minor injuries in the event.

“It was definitely unnerving that the robbery happened so close to my house and at a pizzeria I often go to,” said junior Katherine Kearse. “I remember being woken up by the sound of the helicopters the night of the robbery.”

Porfirio said he was standing outside the restaurant when he heard the gunshots from inside. His brother went in running, and then they immediately called the police. It was later confirmed that the weapons the robbers held were only pellet guns.

“This town has always been nice, quiet, good people, and that’s the whole reason why we opened the store around here,” Porfirio told the Philadelphia Inquirer.

“He became part of the family now,” Porfirio said of the customer who shot the two brothers who were attempting to rob his shop.

Bucks County District Attorney Matt Weintraub announced Nov. 16 that his office would not file charges against the 35-year-old customer because the shooting was in self-defense.  “He used that gun only as he needed, to save his own life and that of the intended victim,” said Weintraub.

Closed the following day, the pizzeria planned to reopen Nov. 17. As the news of the robbery spread across the strip mall, fellow business owners were shocked to hear what happened. “We don’t see much of this in the neighborhood,” stated the Deli Delicatessen manager.

“It’s a nice neighborhood. We’re going to keep it this same way,” Porfirio stated, “That’s going to give the burglars a lesson, too.”