Update: Authorities have now identified the men as Roy Pickens, 25, and Vince Smith, 30. Warrants have been issued for their arrest. Anyone with information of their whereabouts are urged to call Crime Stoppers at 870-732-4444.
MARION, Ark. — A frightening robbery in Marion, Arkansas left a customer shot and an employee so scared, he quit on the spot.
A bullet shattered glass door is a hint of what went down around 3 a.m. Saturday at the Fast Market Convenience store and gas station off the I-55 service road.
“It makes me sad,” said the store owner, who didn’t want to talk on camera.
Video shows a male customer walk in and within minutes the two robbers enter wearing hoodies.
“One goes behind the counter and the other one chases the customer,” the store owner said.
One of the robbers then starts searching around for the store clerk.
When the gunman first came into the store, the frightened employee ran back to the shower area and locked himself inside.
The robber then went back to the cash register.
“He jumps over the counter and it looks like he knows how to operate the system,” says the store owner.
While one gets the cash, the other attacks the male customer, who tried to run outside.
“If you notice here they are fighting outside,” says the store owner as he shows us the video.
The other robber finishes grabbing the cash, takes a few cigarettes and runs out, joining the other robber fighting and shooting the customer.
“The one who took the cigarettes and the money he is shooting out there,” says the store-owner.
The customer was shot in the leg and pelvis area. The Crittenden County Sheriff said the man is out of the hospital and doing well.
The owner of the store says it all happened in six to seven minutes.
“I feel bad for the man who got hurt. He comes in here to buy something and just go to his work and go to his house. This stuff happens to him,” says the store owner.
He says it was so upsetting, the store clerk inside during the robbery quit his job, saying he can’t handle it anymore.
Customers say its frightening a person can’t even make a quick stop.
“Society has gotten out of control when people have to be concerned with their well being in small area like this,” says Michael Shane, who lives in Marion.
The store owner says the robbers got away with just $300 after causing a lot of trouble and pain.
The Crittenden County Sheriff’s Department is investigating the robbery. If you have any information call Crittenden County Crimestoppers at 870-732-4444.