ROCK HILL, S.C. -- A Rock Hill store clerk said she couldn't stay at home, even one day after a man shot a woman right in front of her.

Marsha Boyd was working at the Cash On The Spot store on South Cherry Road when she saw a man walk in Thursday afternoon.

"He sat there for a long time, just looking out the window," she said.

Police said he sat there for nine minutes before he got up and approached 43-year-old Ida Lord, a customer at the counter. He grabbed her around the neck, and then shot her in the head and back.

"I could see the fire from the gunshot and smell the smoke," Boyd said through tears.

She said he yelled, "Give me all the money," and then tried to shove the gun under the bulletproof glass window at the counter.

"I called 911 and stayed behind a desk," she said.

Another employee came out as soon as the gunman left and tried to help Lord, who was conscious when police arrived. She was airlifted to Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte.

"It was probably the coldest crime I've ever seen," said Sheriff's Detective Tim Hager.

Friday afternoon, Rock Hill police, Fort Mill police and York County sheriff's deputies announced that they've joined forces because of the similarities between this and two other robberies and shootings.

Authorities said the gunman appears similar in the Jan. 28 robbery at the Saltwater Seafood store on White Street in Rock Hill, the double shooting at John Boy's Valero store in Fort Mill on Feb. 5 and Thursday's shooting at the Cash On The Spot.

Hager said in each crime people were shot, no matter what they did.

"When you have an individual who, for no apparent reason, shoots a clerk, shoots a customer in this manner -- I talked to Charlotte-Mecklenburg police and even they haven't had anything of this magnitude," he said.

Johnny Starnes, who manages Cash On The Spot, said he's watched the surveillance video from his store over and over again. He installed bulletproof glass above the counter 14 years ago when he first opened up and said he's never had a crime there until Thursday.

"She didn't have any time to give him any money," he said of Boyd. "He left without taking anything."

Police are also looking for a silver or white 90s model Ford Taurus seen leaving the Saltwater Seafood store Jan. 28.

If you have any information about any of the crimes, call York County Crime Stoppers at (877) 409-4321.

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