FORT MILL, S.C. -- A man shot a clerk and a former mayor of Fort Mill during a convenience store robbery Tuesday evening, police said.

Officers said the robber walked into John Boy's store on Spratt Street in Fort Mill around 8:30 p.m. He pulled out a gun and demanded money from the clerk before shooting her in the abdomen. As he was leaving, he encountered former Mayor Charles Powers, whom he then shot in the face.

Powers, whose ears are still ringing, said he had no idea what he was walking into. He said he greeted the man and even opened the door for him.

An instant later, he heard the gunshot right next to his head and realized he’d been shot.

“I said, ‘How are you doing?’ I felt something go up my temple and it slid down. I thought it was a gun; it scared me,” he said. “Before I could even move my head it just slid right on down and it went off.”

Powers said the man left the store holding the bank bag over his face. The former mayor never saw the injured clerk, who was lying on the floor behind the counter inside.

He asked a stranger who pulled up to take him to the police department so he could make a statement before going to the hospital. He was released from Carolinas Medical Center late Tuesday night after being treated for the gunshot wound to his cheek and lower lip.

The store clerk had to be airlifted to the hospital. Yen Nguyen, 54, remains in serious condition.

Neighbors said Nguyen and her husband have run the store for years and are much loved in the community. Joel Munday was in their store every day, and he said the small town of Fort Mill is changing.

“The people here never thought something like this would happen in Fort Mill, and here we are,” he said.

“They’re the nicest people you could imagine,” he said. “Do anything for you.”

Powers was Fort Mill’s mayor for 24 years until last month. He agrees the town is different now than when he was growing up.

“I don’t know why we’re doing these things to each other,” he said. “I just don’t understand it.”

Police are studying surveillance video from the store and hope to release it soon.

Fort Mill police said the gunman is a tall black man, about 6-foot-2 or 6-foot-3, with a sharp, pointed goatee, who was wearing a black toboggan and a black hoodie. Anyone with information is asked to call York County Crime Stoppers at (877) 409-4321.