LEBANON, OREGON -- A Lebanon man remained in serious condition this morning at Lebanon Community Hospital after he allegedly tried to rob a downtown business and was shot during the attempt on Monday.

It was the second time in a week that Quick Cash Payday Advance had been hit.

Owners Kevin Skaggs and Michelle Wood say the same man was involved in both instances. Police would say only they were investigating the similarities of the two holdups.

In the first robbery, March 25, the robber got away with an undisclosed amount of cash.

On Monday the robbery was foiled when Skaggs stopped the suspect with one shot from a .380 caliber handgun.

Monday afternoon Skaggs and Wood talked about the holdup.

Quick Cash Payday Advance makes loans to people short of cash on the basis of their next pay check or Social Security check. They also cash checks for a fee.

Since most government checks are issued at the beginning of the month, the couple expected to be busy.

Skaggs was standing at the front counter around 10 a.m. organizing a stack of contracts when the door opened.

When he looked up, he said he saw someone wearing a Scream outfit.

Realizing what was happening, Skaggs started moving sideways toward the back of the small office in the house he and Wood share at 1133 Main St.

"We were this close," he said of the would-be robber, holding his hands about two feet apart. As he was moving away from the intruder, he informed him that he had a gun.

"When I told him I had a gun, he said, 'I do too,'" Skaggs said.

The business owner said the costumed robber then started to reach under his cape as if reaching for a weapon.

Skaggs fired his pistol, hitting the intruder in the chest.

The shot knocked the man to one knee.

While keeping the suspect in his sights, Skaggs then hit an alarm to notify the police.

Skaggs said the wounded man cussed him out and -- between epithets -- kept saying, "I've got to go."

"I told him not to move, that I didn't want to put a bullet in his head," Skaggs said. "It was pretty crazy in here with us yelling at each other."

The commotion woke up Wood, who was sleeping in the back of the house.

"I'm pretty sure the gunshot woke me up, but there was an awful lot screaming going on," Wood said.

Despite the warnings, the man reached up, opened the door and took off through the back parking lot and down the railroad tracks.

While Skaggs followed him out the door, Wood called the police to let them know that her husband had shot the suspect.

A short time later police found Jeffrey Gordon Duncan, 42, under a railroad trestle between Main and Park streets.

It was the same place that police had found clothes worn by the suspect from the previous robbery.

Police detective Sgt. Tim Fitzwater said Duncan was trying to change his clothes when they found him Monday.

The March 25 robbery had taken place while Skaggs was out of the office and Wood was there alone.

"It really gives you a feeling of vulnerability," Wood said.

The couple say the two incidents have been the only major problems they have had since opening the business nearly 14 months ago after moving to Lebanon from Bend.

"If there is one good thing that comes out of this," Skaggs said. "It's that people will know that we are not going to put up with this sort of thing."

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