Hero survives bullet to head in struggle with robber

In an instant, the 40-year-old man at his favorite South Philadelphia corner store had a decision to make. A young thug had burst through the door waving a gun, announcing a robbery.

The man decided to act, taking a bullet in the head for his grief, but - almost miraculously, according to police - living to talk about it Monday night with doctors.

"The bullet penetrated his skin but not his skull," Chief Inspector Scott Small said of the Good Samaritan shot inside the Koh Kong Grocery late Monday afternoon. "The guy's really lucky."

About 5:51, a gunman wearing a royal-blue hoodie and a mask burst through the door of the bodega at Seventh Street and Moyamensing Avenue, while a lookout waited outside.

"The 40-year-old customer physically struggled with the perp," Small said, "and the perp fired two shots."

The man was in stable condition at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.