Gurleen Kaur, whose father, Inderjit Singh, owns the store, said the robber demanded money from the 34-year-old worker before leading him to a back room and putting the barrel of a long gun into the employee's mouth.
The victim, who had just started working at the store weeks earlier, told Kaur, 23, that the robber called him a 'terrorist' and told him that he used to kill people like him in Iraq, according to MLive.
The robber, who was wearing a mask and has still not been found, then suggested that the employee was part of ISIS, Kaur said.
She added that the worker then grabbed the man's gun in fear of being killed and was shot in the cheek during the struggle.
The shooting occurred in the shop's storage room, which has no security cameras.
Grand Rapids Police Sgt Terry Dixon told MLive that the victim acted bravely in a scary moment.
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