The El Paso County Sheriff's office said they are investigating the case of a convenience store manager who fired a gun at a thief's vehicle after a beer run.

A clerk who works at the convenience store on Zaragoza Road says she saw the theft go down.

She spoke to KFOX14 exclusively about how the alleged thief casually walked in the store, grabbed a case of beer, then dashed out the door. She says the manager grabbed his gun, stepped outside the store and then fired shots at the vehicle the thief fled in.

The El Paso County Sheriff's Office says that being outside the store is sometimes an issue in these type of cases, where the deadly force of using a gun comes into play.

As a general rule, there is a legal precedent that exists, and it protects the clerk in this case.

"You can protect other people's property in any way that you can to prevent the commission on larceny, burglary, robbery, aggravated robbery, and theft during the nighttime or criminal mischief in certain cases, " said Lt. Lawrence Guerra of the El Paso County Sheriff's Office.

The Sheriff's Office says that circumstances are different from case to case when a gun is involved, so they will have to investigate further to determine if he used the firearm appropriately.

It will, however, be reviewed and presented to the legal authorities for a final determination.