On the outside, Iain Armstrong’s size and stature may be intimidating, but those who knew him say he had a gentle soul.

Armstrong, 61, died on Friday, three days after being viciously attacked at a south Edmonton mall.

Armstrong was making a delivery to one of his five Bunches Flowers shops across the city when he witnessed a theft at a Southgate Centre kiosk and tried to intervene, police said.

A longtime employee was not surprised to hear her boss stepped in.

“He’s a person that if something is going wrong, he cannot just leave it like that,” Ratna Sarkar told CTV News. “He wants to help.”

Armstrong was violently attacked and rushed to the hospital, where he later succumbed to his injuries.

We want to express our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Iain Armstrong, a store owner and tenant at Southgate Centre for the past 26 years. May his courage and bravery never be forgotten, and may he be remembered as a dedicated member of the Southgate community. — Southgate Centre (@southgatecentre) April 21, 2018

His alleged killer, 23-year-old Jordan Martin Cushnie, is known to police and province-wide warrants for second-degree murder, robbery, mischief under $5,000, and possession of break-and-enter tools have been issued.

Sarkar says she is heartbroken over Armstrong’s “shocking” death.

“It was very sad, very sad yesterday,” she said. “Every minute I was thinking: such a good person – this should not happen to him.”

Bunches Flowers is a family business. It was founded by Armstrong, his brother and their wives in 1991, and he was there almost every time Sarkar worked.

“I cannot think that he’s not going to come back,” she said. “That’s sad – sad. I still cannot accept it.”

With files from Angela Jung