Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Suspected Robber Shot Dead in Bowling Alley

An armed, ski-masked man who apparently tried to rob a group of bowling alley employees at closing time early Thursday was killed when one of his intended victims drew his own handgun and exchanged shots with the robber, authorities said.

Robert Shields, 30, a mechanic at Brunswick Sands Bowl on Sierra Highway, was hit in the arm but managed to fatally wound the masked intruder with three shots to the chest, sheriff’s deputies said.

The alleged robber, a 26-year-old Los Angeles man whose name was withheld pending notification of his family, died at the scene, deputies said.

“It was a shootout--that’s exactly what it was,” said Sheriff’s Homicide Investigator Nash Reyes.

Shields, whose hometown was not disclosed, was treated at Antelope Valley Hospital, then released. Reyes said the bowling center employee was not arrested, but said the incident was still under investigation.

The confrontation began shortly after midnight, when the masked man approached Shields while he was repairing a broken window on his car just outside the bowling alley, deputies said.

The gunman threatened to kill Shields if he did not cooperate and forced him back into the bowling alley, where three or four other employees were closing up, Reyes said. No customers were still inside.

After they entered, the robber reportedly ordered the other employees to lie down on the floor. As the other workers complied, the robber was distracted, and Shields was able to pull his own handgun from his waistband and exchange shots with the robber, Reyes said.

The investigator said Shields had armed himself because his car had been broken into and he was concerned about crime outside the business at that late hour.

“He didn’t feel safe being unarmed behind the bowling alley,” Reyes said.

The center reopened for business as usual on Thursday, said Adrian Sakowicz, a spokesman for Illinois-based Brunswick Corp., which owns the Lancaster bowling alley.

He said the corporation was providing counselors to assist the employees who witnessed the shootout.