WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – An 8-year-old boy used a loaded gun to try to rob a West Palm Beach grocery store Wednesday, police said.

The boy was seen on surveillance video walking into the store wearing a motorcycle helmet.

Police said the boy had a gun and tried to rob the store, but he was stopped by an employee.

The employee told WPBF, the ABC affiliate in Palm Beach County, that he didn't know if the gun was real or fake.

"As soon as I moved, I reached over to him, twisted his wrist (and) took the gun away," he said.

The boy's mother said she was at home when she realized that something was wrong.

"When I grabbed my purse, it was so light," Eboni Alls said. "I'm like, 'I knew I was missing something.' I thought, 'Where's my gun?' The first I thought (was), like, 'I hope Jayden don't have my gun.'"

Alls said she wishes she would have kept the gun someplace safer.