Ben Carson: I got held up once at Popeye's -- but I told the gunman to rob an employee, instead

Ben Carson has been bragging all week that he would charge head-on at gunmen, if he ever encountered one -- and now he says he actually has been faced with that threat.

The Republican presidential candidate said Thursday morning that he had a gun drawn on him while visiting a Baltimore fried chicken restaurant, reported The Hill.

“I have had a gun held on me when I was in a Popeye’s organization,” Carson said on Karen Hunter's Sirius XM Radio program.

"Guy comes in, put the gun in my ribs,” Carson said.

Carson said twice this week that the victims in last week's Oregon community college shooting should have tried to tackle the gunman and would not "just stand there and let him shoot me."

That's exactly how Army veteran Chris Mintz got shot seven times and wounded during the massacre -- although Carson admits he had never heard of him until a reporter asked.

So what happened when Carson allegedly faced just such a threat? He directed the gunman's attention to an employee of the fast food restaurant.

“I just said, ‘I believe that you want the guy behind the counter,’” Carson said.

The retired brain surgeon did not explain what happened next.