A Harford County man was shot and killed yesterday evening after a struggle with an armed employee at a Fallston gun and pawn shop.

The identity of the victim, believed to be a man in his 60s, was withheld by state police last night pending notification of family members.

The employee's name also was not released.

Lt. Bud Frank, a state police spokesman, said that the victim entered Fallston Gun and Pawn Shop in the 2800 block of Belair Road about 5:15 p.m. and that moments later there was a scuffle between the victim and a clerk who was armed with a handgun.

Frank said it was not immediately known what sparked the disagreement. But he said the victim drew a handgun and fired at least one shot at the employee, missing him.

He said the employee then drew his weapon and fired at least once, striking the customer in the upper body.

Frank said an unknown number of customers were in the store and witnessed the shooting, but none was injured.

The victim, Frank said, then staggered out of the store and collapsed on his back on the parking lot next to a late model Mercury Grand Marquis that police think belonged to him.

Frank said someone dialed 911 and reported the shooting.

Moments later, state troopers from the nearby Bel Air barracks arrived and two of them, with some passers-by, attempted to revive the man. But he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Frank said the employee was interviewed at the scene and taken to the barracks with customers who witnessed the shooting.

Brian Kelly and Keith Clark, both 20, and employees at Fast Eddie's Pit Beef, a shop two doors from the gun shop, said they walked outside when they noticed two state police cars outside the shop.

He said that he and Clark didn't hear the shots because of the noise in their restaurant and nearby heavy road traffic.

Clark said the man appeared to be at least 60 and was wearing a white dress shirt and slacks. He also described him as thin and frail looking.

"The police worked on him real hard, but he died right there on the parking lot," Kelly said.

Kelly said that troopers and bystanders told him that the man became angry because the employee refused to sell him ammunition for an unknown reason and that both men began to struggle after an argument.