A parking lot attendant at a San Jose bar is being described as a “hero” after being killed by a gunshot wound to the abdomen while trying to defend two women from an armed robber Saturday night.

Marco Villalobos Arias, 45, was killed around 8 p.m. Saturday night in the parking lot of Bar Micheladas in Moravia. Villalobos, who was the father of a 16-year-old, was shot with a 9mm handgun while attempting to defend two women who had just left the bar when they were confronted by an armed robber. The assailant was able to flee the scene on foot.

Villalobos was left lying on the ground next to a dumpster, bleeding heavily from his abdomen. An ambulance arrived on the scene some 30 minutes later, transporting the man to the Calderon Guardia Hospital, where he subsequently died of severe blood loss.

Workers at the bar said that the man “died a hero.”

Villalobos had worked at the bar as a cuidacarro – individuals who look after vehicles, usually in exchange for tips – for about two months because he was having trouble finding regular employment, the man’s brother told the daily La Nacion.