The clerk at a Metro PCS store in Northwest Jacksonville that was robbed Tuesday morning described what it was like to be the victim of an armed robbery in the presence of a scared mother and her young child.

"Out of the blue, all I saw was that he pulled out a gun and pointed it at me," the clerk, who did not want to be identified, said in a phone interview about the robber who is still being sought. "I think if it was just myself, he might have shot myself. He made a statement, 'There's a kid in here, so don't make me shoot.'"

Surveillance video shows the mother shopping and her daughter playing on the ground in the store in the 5500 block of Soutel Drive. The robber then enters the picture.

"A gentleman walked in acting like a normal customer," the clerk said. "I had asked him, 'What kind of phone are you looking for and how can I help you?'"

Video:

It quickly became clear the man wasn't after a phone. He pulled out a gun and demanded everything in the register.

Simultaneously, the mother fell to the ground, doing her best to shield her baby from harm.

While the woman and her child were on the floor, the robber saw her purse on the counter and stole it, the surveillance video shows. In the purse was the woman's driver's license, Social Security card and birth certificates of her children.

"Of course I was shocked," said Tam, who manages the store. "I called to see if he was OK."

Tam, who did not want to give his last name, said he feels confident the robber will be caught because there are more than a dozen cameras in the store.

"He's been caught on all types of angles, outside, inside. I mean, he's clear on there," Tam said.

"The point that he came in the store with somebody in the store and not just myself, the next time there could be three or four people in the store and he's going to do the same thing," the clerk said.

The robber is described as a black man about 5 feet 10 inches tall and 160 pounds. He was wearing blue jeans, a black hoodie and black shoes.

Anyone with any information about the robber's identity or whereabouts is asked to call the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office at 904-630-0500 or Crime Stoppers at 866-845-TIPS.