JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – An armed robbery Wednesday morning of the Dollar General on Dunn Avenue just west of Lem Turner Road ended in gunfire, but no injures.
It was the second armed robbery of a Jacksonville dollar store in less than two days that resulted in gunfire.
Employees said a man wearing a white shirt walked into the store not long after it opened at 8 a.m., pointed a snub-nose revolver at an employee, fired one shot into the ceiling, jumped over the counter to grab money from the register, then ran off with cash. Witnesses said the store’s manager was at the register at the time of the robbery.
Seven people were inside the store at the time -- five workers and two customers -- but none were injured.
One employee, who didn't want to give her name, said she panicked when she heard the gunshot.
"I don't feel safe at all," the employee told News4Jax. "Anybody can come in anytime. It could be me at the register, and then he shot towards the ceiling. What if he didn't? What if you would've shot one of us?"
After police investigated and spoke to witnesses, the store reopened just before noon. This was the second robbery at this store in a month.
About 6 p.m., a customer was shot during a robbery of a Family Dollar store on North Main Street, just south of Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway. Police said the gun went off during that robbery and a customer was shot in the upper body. The victim was taken to UF Health Jacksonville and was in serious but stable condition at last check.
That robber -- described as a 25- to 30-year-old black man with a goatee and wearing a hat, a light blue shirt and khaki shorts -- took off with the cash, police said.
In both cases, police obtained surveillance video they hope will help them identify the robber.