Dr. Edwin Zong recounts the moments before he shot and killed a man attempting to rob him.
"I thought I was I dead," said Zong.
The shooting happened shortly before 6pm Tuesday at Garden Oasis Medical World on Gordon Street in East Bakersfield.
Zong says he was getting ready to close for the day, when a man, described as white and in his 40s, walked the clinic and asked him if he takes new patients.
"I wanted to tell him to have a seat," said Zong.
That is when he says the man began cursing and demanding money.
"He just all of a sudden attacked me. And then he was so fast. I didn't even see his face or his hands. All I know is I feel like my head got hit," said Zong.
Zong says he was knocked down to the ground. He says he begged the man to stop beating him.
"Finally, I pushed (him), I jumped out then I grabbed my defense weapon from my drawer then bang-bang," said Zong.
The man ran out of the clinic then died moments later in a nearby apartment complex.
Zong says it wasn't until Wednesday morning that he discovered that the man had died.
"I thought I didn't catch him. I thought he fled. He's so fast," said Zong.
Bakersfield police have confirmed that Zong was acting in self-defense during the attempted robbery and assault.
Officials say that he did have a license to carry the gun that was used and that he is not facing any criminal charges.
The coroner's office has yet to release the name of man that was killed.
