Shooting victim was South Philly grocer's hero

PHALY LANG said Jesse Tanner was a regular customer at Koh Kong Grocery.

He frequently bought fresh fruits or vegetables from the small store and was generally a nice guy.

But he instantly became her favorite customer Monday night after breaking up an attempted armed robbery at the store and being shot twice in the process.

"I thank him. He's my hero," Lang said Tuesday.

Just before 6 p.m. Monday, Lang said, a man wearing a mask entered the store, at 7th Street and Moyamensing Avenue, and announced a robbery.

Lang said that when the would-be robber pointed a gun, initially she thought it was a joke.

"I thought he was playing," said the diminutive woman, who was in the store with her adult daughter, her 9-year-old granddaughter and Tanner. "He said, 'For real, for real.' "

When she got down on the floor, Lang said, Tanner grabbed the gunman and tried to wrestle the weapon from him. The assailant shot Tanner in the head and leg, then fled on foot.

Police said Tanner lost a lot of blood inside the store, but luckily the bullet that struck his head did not penetrate his skull. He was listed in stable condition at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.

Lang and her husband, Dara Ros, said they were grateful for his bravery.

"That's dangerous. Thank God he [survived]," said Ros, who has played volleyball with Tanner. "He's a strong, bright young man. He put his [life in danger] for my wife."

Ros said it was the first time the couple had been robbed in the seven years they've operated at that location. He believes that the robber staked out the store and waited until he left.

"[When] they don't see the guy in the store, they just come in," he said.

Police said the gunman was wearing a royal-blue hooded sweatshirt. An accomplice, who may have acted as a lookout, is also being sought.