Takeaway owner fights off crook armed with not-so-fake gun

A US restauranteur got the shock of her life after she grappled with a delinquent with what she thought was a fake gun, only to discover afterwards that his weapon was entirely real.

Norfolk, Virginia resident Kequi Wang's scepticism could have landed her in hospital or worse when a 19-year-old would-be thief marched into her eatery with a pistol last weekend and demanded cash.

Thinking the gun was a replica, Ms Wang fearlessly tussled with the crim, who she judged as none-too-bright.

"He didn't cover his face, and then the gun – so old!" Ms Wang told CNN .

"I never do that," she said of the struggle. "I just hate bad people."

So does Ms Wang's husband, Lin, who rushed to his wife's aid, sending the young hood packing with a few souvenirs courtesy of a large meat cleaver he snatched up from the kitchen.

"Lin cut him," Ms Wang said. "And he left."

But the thief had forgotten one thing – his "old" pistol, which Ms Wang had grabbed during the fight. As the surveillance footage shows, Ms Wang was still convinced it was a prop – but luckily she thought to point it away for her when she pulled the trigger.

As dangerous as the incident and its aftermath were, the look on Ms Wang's face when the weapon fires is, as CNN notes, quite priceless.

But despite how much worse the attempted robbery could have been, Ms Wang says she hopes Jabri Brown, who police found nearby with a deep cut or two in his back, learns his lesson.

"I hope he can change something," she said. "I hope he doesn't do it anymore."

Brown was charged with robbery, attempted robbery, and use of a firearm in the commission of a crime.