Store clerk fires 2 shots after battery

A clerk at a Lafayette liquor store fired two shots after police say he was struck twice in an argument Friday night.

Lafayette Police Department is searching for a 6-foot, 200-pound black male and three others in an investigation of battery on the clerk at Bar Barry Liquor Store on South Ninth Street.

After the four entered the store, the suspect took a customer's money off the counter as she was checking out and an argument ensued, according to LPD press release. Police say the suspect struck the clerk once behind the counter, knocking him to the floor and prompting him to pull a 9mm handgun from his pocket.

As the clerk and store manager followed the four out of the building, police say the same suspect struck the manager and the clerk to the floor again. The clerk fired one shot while on the ground and another from a kneeling position as the four fled in a car parked outside the liquor store.

The store manager and clerk were treated and released from St. Elizabeth East Hospital.

Anyone with more information should call the We-Tip hotline at 1-800-782-7463.