CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Police on Wednesday released surveillance video from an armed robbery at a south Charlotte Harris Teeter, where one man opened fire in the store.
The robbery happened Tuesday night at the Harris Teeter on Providence and Ardrey Kell roads.
Harris Teeter has increased private security, and the company has also hired off-duty police officers from Charlotte and Cornelius to patrol the stores.
The surveillance video showed the men are not afraid to use violence to get their money.
One man was wearing a black and white baseball cap and a black bandana. The other man, wearing a hoodie, held a gun at his side.
The men stole money from the front register and forced an employee to lie on the ground. They fired shots several shots during the robbery, which happened while customers were still shopping inside.
None of the customers was injured, but one of the robbers hit a manager in the back of the head.
"They're definitely aggressive. They're violent, and they're dangerous," said Lt. Jennifer Thompson, with the Cornelius Police Department.
The men later went into the back room with a manager and stole from the safe. The manager was physically hit in the head, and had to be treated by paramedics, police said.
The robbers fled the store on foot.
Police said the same men robbed at least two other Harris Teeter stores over the last week -- one in Cornelius and one in Fort Mill.
Kim Laing is a manager at a paper store next to the Cornelius Harris Teeter.
"I don't want to be in this area with that going on. They can come into any of these shops, and I'm here late at night a lot of times," she said.
Laing said she's already changing her shopping habits.
"I'll still shop, but that'll be in the daytime," Laing said. "I think that's a little safer."
In addition to stepping up security, Harris Teeter is offering a $50,000 reward for information that leads to the arrests of the two robbers.
WSOC
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