El Cajon

A 26-year-old clerk was shot and killed Monday morning while fighting with a robber at a Circle K on Camino Canada east of El Cajon, authorities said.

Carl Blanton, a La Mesa resident who worked at the store, was shot several times in the back, said Dan Matticks, a county medical examiner investigator. He was pronounced dead at 1:55 a.m. at Valley Medical Center in El Cajon, Matticks said.

A passer-by who saw Blanton’s body on the ground, about 15 feet from the entrance and next to a car, called the Sheriff’s Department at about 1 a.m., Lt. John Tenwolde said.

Blanton had struggled inside the store with his attacker, but it was not immediately known if he was shot inside the store or during a confrontation outside, where he apparently followed the robber, Tenwolde said.

The last transaction on the cash register was at 12:43 a.m., which showed no sale, Tenwolde said. An undetermined amount of cash was missing.

Employees at a 24-hour doughnut shop next door said they were in the back of the store and did not hear, Tenwolde said. Investigators said they have no suspects.