This is the moment a takeaway shop owner calmly ignored an armed robber as he carried on serving a customer.
When a masked man brandishing a handgun walked into Taste of Egypt in Christchurch, New Zealand, Said Ahmed decided to simply ignore him and finish serving another punter instead.
Mr Ahmed, who lives in Christchurch, but is originally from Egypt, said his actions “took away the power” from the would-be armed robber.
He told the Guardian: "The man wanted to frighten me and I decided he couldn’t do that..
“I passed the customer his food because I wanted him to leave the shop and not be in any danger.”
Footage of the incident, which happened on Saturday, was posted to social media by police.
It showed Ahmed even appearing to smile as the armed raider stands nearby.
He finishes preparing the large chicken souvlaki, but casually walking away from the front counter.
The would-be robber, seemingly defeated by Mr Ahmed's calm demeanour fled the shop empty-handed.
Mr Ahmed said: “I turned my back on the robber and walked to the kitchen to call the police. I told myself, ‘If he shoots me at least my body will be further away, and the gun shot won’t be as serious as shooting me at close range in my heart or my head.’”
“The robber was very confused by my behaviour. He wanted to scare me but I wasn’t scared, so I took away his power.”
Mr Ahmed, who was working alone at the time of the attempted robbery, has since closed the shop on Friday and Saturday nights.
