GRANITE FALLS, N.C. — Police in Granite Falls arrested a woman who they said used a gun to rob a store clerk who was ambushed outside the Market Basket before being locked inside a bathroom.
Judy Potter Norris, 48, forced the clerk to the rear of the business and locked him in a bathroom, where the victim called 911, police said.
(Judy Potter Norris)
"Market Basket 23 in Granite Falls, it's being robbed,” the victim told a 911 dispatcher. “I've been forced into the bathroom at gunpoint. The robber is a female."
The clerk was cleaning the parking lot when he said he was caught off guard by a woman with a gun.
Norris pointed it at him and then jabbed it into his side before forcing him back inside the store, he said.
"I've always been around men with guns," customer Eddie Fulbright said. “A woman with a gun, I think I might be even more afraid."
"It (doesn’t) surprise me,” customer Mark Norris said. “You're talking about a community here where there's not a lot of jobs and a lot of unemployment."
Authorities said they are glad the clerk cooperated and wasn't hurt.
"The best advice is to cooperate and be compliant with them,” clerk Susan Norris said. “Don't try to do anything heroic. Money can be replaced. Moms, dads, sisters, brothers, they can't be."
Norris of 71 Duke Street, Granite Falls was charged with robbery with a dangerous weapon and second-degree kidnapping.
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