Delivery man: Pizza Hut suspended me for fending off robber in 'old-fashioned gunfight'

This story has been updated with a statement from Pizza Hut.

The Pizza Hut had just closed.

Outside the windows of the store on South Grant Avenue, William Hotop could see only darkness.

"Bam! Bam!"

A man was knocking down the glass door, so Hotop, 31, said he bolted for where he knew a gun was located in the Pizza Hut.

Hotop said he saw the intruder reaching for something from his hoodie pocket, and Hotop dropped to his knees and leveled the gun.

The man pointed a gun at him, Hotop said, and they both pulled triggers.

"It was like, 'Oh, s---,'" he told the News-Leader Tuesday. "I know you can't put that in the news, but that's the best way I can describe it."

Hotop said he took cover as the man fired more shots, then Hotop chased the man out of the Pizza Hut firing two shots.

"It was a good old-fashioned gunfight," Hotop said. "I protected (Pizza Hut) like it was my home. I love my job."

Within a minute, he said, police officers were on the scene, but the man with the gun was already gone.

No one was injured and no one has been arrested, police say, and the matter is still under investigation.

According to a report from police: "Minutes after robbing a group of teens in the parking lot while brandishing a firearm, a male forced entry into the Pizza Hut by kicking the front glass door."

Hotop said the store did not have security cameras.

Hotop believes his actions early in the morning of Sept. 12 could have saved his life and the lives of two other employees.

He added that no money was taken from the Pizza Hut, where's he worked for about two years.

Since then, Hotop said, Pizza Hut has suspended him without pay and fired the manager working that night. 

A statement released by Pizza Hut said the store is cooperating with police during the investigation.

"As in any case involving a police investigation, the employees involved are on leave of absence while authorities gather information," the statement said.

Hotop said he's not happy with the decision to suspend him.

"I can't believe that after I protected the store, I'm basically losing my job," Hotop said, adding that the manager should not have been fired.

Hotop said he's also afraid he might be targeted because of a prior felony conviction.

About a decade has passed since his last conviction, Hotop said, and he came to Springfield to get a new start in life.

Hotop said the gun he fired that night was not his, though he hopes to one day again have the right to carry a firearm.

It's been two weeks since the shootout, and Hotop is hopeful he can go back to doing what he loves: delivering pizza.

"Hearing kids say, 'Pizza!' Knowing I made their night? That puts a smile on my face."