Video captures brave 8-year-old girl using baseball bat to help her dad fight off alleged armed robber

A liquor store manager in Minnesota said he was shocked to see security video of his 8-year-old daughter wielding a baseball bat to help him fight off an armed robber.

The incident unfolded around 9:30 p.m. Saturday as the store manager, who calls himself Leo, was preparing to close the Big Discount Liquors in Maplewood. A man dressed in an Amazon uniform walked in and placed a realistic-looking BB gun on the counter.

'I'm so proud of her,' her dad recalled. 'She's so strong.'

"He put the gun on the table, he asked me to give him all the money and everything in the register. I told him yes — I'll give you everything," Leo said.

He also told the suspect that his only concern was the safety of his daughter, who was beside Leo behind the counter, WCCO-TV said.

But surveillance video shows the suspect walk behind the counter with his gun, and that's when Leo took action.

"I'm a dad," he said. "I'm not going to let that happen." Indeed, Leo struck the man in the head and wrestled him to the floor.

Then, his brave daughter stepped into the fight, coming out swinging with the baseball bat and hitting the suspect a few times before running away, the station said.

"I'm so proud of her," her dad recalled. "She's so strong."

The suspect fled the scene, and Leo said he didn't know his daughter jumped into the fray until he looked at the video later.

"That day I just wanted to cry. When I saw the video, I didn't expect she'd do that. I expect a little girl crying, screaming," he said.

Police soon nabbed the suspect and identified him as 37-year-old Conchobhar Morrell of St. Paul. He was charged with first-degree attempted aggravated robbery. WCCO, citing charging documents, added that Morrell's criminal record includes a 2004 conviction for first-degree aggravated robbery.

Amazon said Morrell was a delivery associate for a third-party delivery service and the company acted to "immediately" off-board him.

Leo added that when he asked his daughter what made her so brave, she replied that she wanted to defend him and that she loves him so much.

You can view a news video about the incident, which includes the surveillance clip, here.

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