They say kids are fearless, and an 8-year-old girl from Maplewood, Minnesota, just proved it. What started as a scary situation at Big Discount Liquors quickly turned into an unforgettable story of bravery.

8-year-old hero fends off armed robber with baseball bat

One Saturday night, just before closing time at Big Discount Liquors, 37-year-old Conchobhar Morrell of St. Paul walked into the store wearing an Amazon uniform. He approached the counter, where the store manager, Leo, was wrapping up his work for the day. Suddenly, Morrell pulled a realistic air rifle from his pocket, placed it on the counter and demanded all the money from the register.

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Leo agreed to hand over the money, but what Morrell didn’t know was that Leo’s 8-year-old daughter was standing behind the counter and witnessed the whole thing.

The paternal instinct takes over

When Morrell stepped behind the counter, Leo’s instincts kicked in. “I’m a father; I’m not going to let this happen,” Leo later said. He lunged at the robber and wrestled him to the ground. Meanwhile, Leo’s daughter, seeing her father in trouble, jumped into action. Surveillance footage later captured the incredible moment when the little girl grabbed a baseball bat and joined the fight to protect her father.

Surveillance video:

“I’m so proud of her. She’s so strong,” Leo said, amazed at his daughter’s bravery. The girl hit the suspect a few times with the bat before running to safety. Leo didn’t even realize his daughter had intervened until he saw the video. “When I saw the video, I just wanted to cry. I didn’t expect her to do that; I thought she would cry and scream,” he said.

When asked why she acted so bravely, the young girl simply said that she wanted to protect her father because she loved him so much.

What happened to the robber?

As for the would-be robber, Morrell was caught and charged with attempted first-degree aggravated robbery. His criminal past is not clean; he was convicted of a similar crime in 2004. This time, however, he did not expect to be beaten up by an 8-year-old girl.

Morrell worked as a delivery driver for a third-party company that delivered Amazon packages, but the company has confirmed that he will be “terminated immediately.”

Dealing with things in court

On Tuesday evening, Morrell was still in custody awaiting his next court date on Friday. But for Leo and his daughter, life is slowly returning to normal. The horror may be over, but the memory of the brave little girl with the baseball bat will stay with us forever.