An apparent attempt to rob a Papa John’s pizza restaurant in Montana’s capital went awry when the would-be robber -- who was wearing a black hoodie with a red bandana covering his face -- started to cry.

According to the Helena Independent Record, a man entered the restaurant just after midnight Monday and gave the cashier a note demanding money. As the employee started to hand it over, the man broke down and confessed he was doing the deed for his wife and child.

“The clerk talked to him for a while,” Helena Police Chief Troy McGee told the Independent Record, and determined that some free pizza, wings, and soda – to go – are what he really needed.

McGee told the Independent Record that a large knife fell out of the man’s pocket while he was waiting for his food to cook. Once the food was in hand, the man left on foot. 

"The clerk handled it well," McGee told NBC News. "You have to put yourself in his shoes in this situation. No one was hurt."

Police were still seeking to talk to the man, described as 5-foot-9 with a slender build, though they were not sure if charges would be brought against him, McGee said. "We'd sure hate to see him do something like this again," McGee said.

A manager at the Papa John’s pizzeria declined to comment to NBC News. 

"The safety of our customers and employees is our top priority," said Merisa Sanders, director of marketing for Mountain View Pizza, which owns the local franchise. "We're pleased no one was hurt."

A Florida man invoked the state’s controversial “stand your ground” law after he shot another customer at a pizza parlor who complained that his pie wasn’t coming out fast enough, the Tampa Bay Times reported.  

Around 4 p.m. at a Little Caesars pizzeria in St. Petersburg, Fla., Randall White, 49, expressed dissatisfaction with the service. He had ordered a thin-crust vegetable pizza.

"Twenty minutes later, I'm like, 'Where's my pizza?'" White told the Tampa Bay Times.

Also waiting in line was Michael Jock, 52, who chided White for complaining.  

The two then started tussling, police told the Tampa Bay Times. When White raised a fist, Jock, who has a concealed-weapons permit, responded by pulling out a .38 Taurus Ultralight Special Revolver.

As they wrestled, Jock fired a round and shot White in his middle. He fired again, hitting White in the same area, police told the Tampa Bay Times.

The two men then went outside and waited for police to arrive. Jock immediately told officers that he felt the shooting was justified under the “stand your ground law,” police told the Tampa Bay Times.

Police arrested Jock; he was later released on $20,000 bail. 

Jock, of St. Petersburg, has had legal troubles in the past. He was sentenced to 30 days in jail in 2001 after pleading guilty to three misdemeanor charges, according to court records: criminal mischief, disorderly intoxication and loitering or prowling.

Florida's “stand your ground” was nationally debated following the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. Martin was shot by George Zimmerman, who said he was defending himself under the law.

NBC's Isolde Raftery contributed reporting.

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NEW YORK -- A 5-year-old Bronx boy died and his 7-year-old sister was hospitalized Wednesday after spending the evening with their father, who was apparently distraught and told police he put poison on their pizza.

Law enforcement sources tell NBC 4 New York that the children's parents had recently split up. The kids were spending the day with him, and just after midnight, he called their mother and told her he was going to kill himself, sources say.

As she headed to the Morris Heights apartment where he was staying with his step-mother, the stepmother called police and said the father had locked himself in the bathroom with his son.

When police and the mother arrived, the boy was unresponsive and the girl was vomiting. The boy was later pronounced dead at Saint Barnabus Hospital. The girl's condition was not immediately known.

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Police are questioning the father. Sources say he told police he poisoned the children and himself with something on their pizza.

In a separate child death case, police were called to the Boulevard Houses on Linden Boulevard in East New York Tuesday night at about 11:30 p.m. for a report of an unconscious girl. When they arrived, they found the child, Halii McCord, unresponsive. She was taken to Brookdale Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Sources say the boyfriend of the girl's mother is being questioned.

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