An armored-car driver

shoots a man who alledgedly tries to rob him in broad daylight inside a Wawa gas station at South Goldenrod Road and Hoffner Avenue.

An armored-car driver shot a man who tried to rob him Thursday inside a Wawa gas station in southeast Orlando, police said.

The Loomis cash-handling company employee was exchanging money in an ATM in the back of a Wawa at 4700 S. Goldenrod Road when a man approached him from behind shortly before 4 p.m., said Sgt. Eduardo Bernal, Orlando Police Department spokesman.

The robbery suspect squirted pepper spray at the Loomis worker to disorient him, he said.

The Loomis employee took out his handgun and fired one round into the suspect’s chest.

“[Pepper spray] debilitates you and it blinds you,” Bernal said. “The fact that he was able to not only shoot a round but actually strike the subject is miraculous.”

He said the wounded suspect was detained inside the store and was conscious when authorities arrived.

Both men were taken to a hospital for treatment.

The man who was shot was in critical but stable condition and is expected to survive.

Bernal said he will be charged with armed robbery when he is released from the hospital.

He said the Loomis employee was working alone.

It’s unclear how many people were inside the store at the time of the incident, but no one else was injured during the incident.

The identities of the two men were not immediately released.

“This was during the daylight,” Bernal said. “These brazen attempts keep happening, and it’s clear they have no regard for the people around them.”

The Wawa is at the corner of South Goldenrod Road and Hoffner Avenue near Orlando International Airport. Caitlin Doornbos contributed to this report. bpadro@orlandosentinel.com