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Masked man threatens to shoot customers in gas station robbery

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — IMPD detectives are looking for a man who robbed a gas station late Wednesday night. They say he threatened to shoot a customer.

It happened at Phillips 66 on Capital Avenue near 34th Street just north of downtown. The worker wasn’t able to get much of a description, because the man wore a mask. But, that wasn’t the only challenge. Bullet proof glass protected the cashier, which is typically a good thing. However, the suspect used it as leverage to get his way.

At Phillips 66, timing is everything. Customers come in a hurry to grab a few things, then go on with their day.

“I come to this gas station very often,” said Dalaun Minion.

But, he wasn’t there late Wednesday night. Which, in this case, means he was in the right place at the right time.

“If I would’ve been standing there, him talking about, he would’ve been shooting some people, I probably would’ve pulled my gun out on him,” said Minion.

Rayshawn Smith is also a customer. His reaction would’ve been different, “I would’ve gave it to them. I would’ve just told the clerk to give it to him. I probably would’ve ran out.”

Police say before midnight, a masked man stormed into the gas station with a gun. There was just one problem; bullet proof glass. The entire clerk’s station is encased in the glass.

“Plus all the doors are bullet proof. The windows, everything is bullet proof. So, can’t really do anything to the clerk, except he can threaten the people around him,”The store’s manager, Jimmy Singh said,

Threaten the people around, that’s exactly what police say he did.

“There was a woman right here next to the register. There was a person getting some fountain (drink) and there was someone at the restroom. He was threatening to shoot everyone,” said Singh.

Surveillance cameras rolled on him the entire time. There are several on both the inside and outside of the building.

Singh is now working on ways to better protect both staff and customers, “We’re probably just going to have more security cameras. More cameras, and there’s going to be more cops around here late in the night.”

For customers, more security comes just in time.

“I could’ve been in there. I could’ve been in there, and been threatening my life,” said Tony Scott.

Police say the suspect got away with about $200. Investigators are now reviewing the surveillance video. If you have any information that could help in this investigation, call Crime Stoppers at 317-262-TIPS.

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