The manager of a Hungry Howie`s Pizza & Subs restaurant on Silver Star Road shot and killed one masked robber and seriously wounded another Wednesday night, authorities said.

Orange County Sheriff Kevin Beary said it appears the shooting was justified but a complete investigation would be conducted.

At about 8:40 p.m., two armed men wearing bandanas covering their faces entered the restaurant at 6900 Silver Star Road, employees said. One held a semiautomatic weapon to a female employee`s head and then confronted the manager, Mark Stanovich, who was on the phone. As the other suspect went to the cash register, the first supect pistol-whipped Stanovich, who reached to the counter for a gun. The manager shot one suspect in the head and the other in the neck, employees said.

The surviving suspect was taken to Orlando Regional Medical Center in critical condition.

Stanovich also went to the hospital. Since 1994, the manager has shot suspects during two other robberies, employees said.

Published in The Orlando Sentinel on July 13, 2000