When two men armed with a shotgun burst into a Cannon Street East convenience store early Friday morning in Hamilton, the clerk vaulted the counter in a flurry of fists and beat back the would-be robbers.

Dramatic surveillance video of the robbery attempt shows the two men, their faces covered with bandanas, entering Corner's Variety and approaching the counter.

One of the men starts to pull a long gun out of a bag, but he never gets a chance.

Suddenly, the clerk leaps over the counter and grabs the man, and they fall to the ground, grappling and swinging.

When two masked men burst into a Cannon Street convenience store Friday morning, the clerk didn't hesitate — he jumped over the counter and fought them off. 0:55

It was 5 a.m. ET on Aug. 10, and Salahaldeen Odeh's first night on the job at the store in east-central Hamilton.

"I was thinking, 'No, not today,'" he said. "It was my one chance. I'm still young. I don't want to die."

Before the two men walked in, the 24-year-old said it had been a quiet night. There were no customers and no one was on the street.

As soon as the two came through the door, he sensed something was wrong. When they pulled on bandanas — one red, the other blue — he knew they weren't there to shop.

"One guy said, 'Be quiet, give me the money,'" Odeh recalled. But his attention was locked on the other man, who opened a black sport bag to flash a pump-action shotgun.

'Shoot him, shoot him, shoot him'

In that instant, Odeh said he knew he had to act. He said he wasn't afraid — he was angry.

"I didn't give him a chance to take it out because if he puts it in my face, then I can't do anything."

So he vaulted over the counter, catching a crazed, confused stare from the man in front of him, before wrestling him to the ground in a fight that knocked over shelves of candy and continuing down one of the aisles.

I think Salah acted out of fear for his life … I wouldn't advise it, but I think what he did was heroic and courageous. - Said Seif, store owner

Odeh trained as a boxer in Jordan before coming to Canada. He knows how to use his fists.

Meanwhile, the bag with the gun skittered away as the other masked robber kicked Odeh in the back.

"The first guy was yelling, 'Shoot him, shoot him, shoot him' while I was punching his face. But I saw he was scared to do that."

Eventually, the pair managed to grab the gun and scramble away. Only then, Odeh said, did the reality of what just happened start to sink in.

He called police and his manager, Said Seif, and told them what happened.

"They both said, 'Why did you do that? Just give them the money," said the clerk.

Odeh said one of the police officers who showed up had to hold back a laugh when he watched the video.

"He said, 'Who is that crazy guy?' I told him it was me."

This convenience store clerk jumped over the counter to fight off 2 shotgun-toting robbers. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HamOnt?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HamOnt</a> <a href="https://t.co/OETcqDtuhQ">https://t.co/OETcqDtuhQ</a> <a href="https://t.co/okWWyqd3Bm">pic.twitter.com/okWWyqd3Bm</a> —@CBCHamilton

Hamilton police put out a news release Monday, asking the public for help in identifying the two men, who are described as white, between 5-foot-8 and 5-foot-10, and wearing dark jackets at the time of the robbery attempt.

The release also cautioned against the kind of actions taken by Odeh.

"Police are reminding the public, their safety is the primary focus," says the release. "In situations where there is a potential for injury or act of violence, it is recommended people comply with the demands made of them and to contact police when safe."

Hands 'like a gorilla'

Seif said Odeh's hands were "swollen up like a gorilla's" after the fight.

"I think Salah acted out of fear for his life. I think he acted out of adrenalin … I wouldn't advise it, but I think what he did was heroic and courageous."

Odeh was back behind the counter the night after the robbery, and said he's not worried about the two men coming back. (Dan Taekema/CBC)

The men were able to get in partly because Odeh was new to the job and the store's security protocol, the owner said.

The store has a policy of locking its door overnight and allowing one or two customers in at a time — only if their faces are uncovered.

A problem with robberies

Those rules are in place because Friday's attempted robbery is the third this year, said Seif.

"The area is bad. I think we have a problem with convenience stores being robbed. It does make me worry about my employee's safety."

Odeh was checked out by paramedics, but besides his swollen hands, he wasn't injured.

He was back behind the counter the next night, and thankfully that went without a hitch.

Watching that video now, he said, his reaction is the same as his boss's.

"I am crazy, really I am crazy. This is not courage. This is crazy."