An Akron carry out store owner is recovering after he was stabbed, pistol-whipped and shot in the face while trying to protect himself during a robbery at his Goodyear Heights business.
Police said the injuries to 34-year-old Will Goodwin are not life-threatening. However, his co-workers said Goodwin remained in the intensive care unit at Summa Akron City Hospital a day after the brutal attack inside Pioneer Market on Pioneer Street.
Co-worker Jim Pido visited Goodwin in the hospital on Wednesday. He has a bandage around his head and his right eye is swollen shut. The bullet came traveled through the back of his ear and came out of his cheek.
"He's very fortunate that he's alive. One inch to the right and that would have gone through his brain," Pido said.
Goodwin told Pido that a customer was acting strangely near the back of the store just after midnight Wednesday.
When Goodwin approached the man, he displayed two knives and lunged at the owner.
"He swung one of the knives and stabbed Will in the lower abdomen in his lower back," Pido explained.
Goodwin grabbed a gun from behind the counter, but the intruder wrestled it away and pistol-whipped the owner on the head.
As Goodwin ran from the store, two shots were fired. One bullet shattered a game of chance machine. The other bullet hit Goodwin's face and then shattered the front door.
Employees believe the gunman stole a $100 bill from the machine before taking off.
"Is it worth $100 to shoot someone?" Pido wondered.
Neighbor Matt Coughlin, who had just returned home from work, was startled by the gunfire.
"I saw Will, the convenience store owner, across the street in front of his store screaming help so I ran down and said, 'What's going on?' And he said, "I got shot.'"
The victim was helped to Couglin's home and given a towel to help stop the bleeding until police and EMS arrived.
"I think, as a human being, it's one of the worst situations you can be in," Coughlin said.
The suspect was described at a black male, 20-29 years old, 5'09"-5'11", 135-145 lbs, wearing a black hooded sweatshirt with a black backpack with a white Adidas logo. Detectives do not have any suspects.
The unsolved crime against a man, described as kind and generous, has left the neighborhood on edge. Goodwin has owned the store for nine years.
"He's always done good for the neighbors around here so for something like to happen has him really upset," Pido told News 5.
Summit County Crimestoppers is offering a reward up to $5,000 for information leading to the gunman.
Tipsters can remain anonymous when calling 330-434-COPS.
