A $5,000 reward is being offered for information about two suspects who shot the clerk while attempting to rob the store.
The incident occurred at the 7-Eleven store located in the 1800 block of Stenton Avenue.
It was 4:15 a.m. when two armed men entered the store with guns raised, demanding money from the clerk behind the counter.
Surveillance video shows the men wearing masks and demanding the worker empty the register.
Brandishing semiautomatic handguns, they demanded money and threatened the 22 year old clerk behind the counter and his female companion who was standing out of view of the surveillance camera.
The clerk seemed to be in no rush to give them the cash- and even appeared to ignore them as the two suspects became increasingly anxious.
One of the suspects smacked the woman across the face with a gun as the clerk tried to buy more time.
"He does a lot of dancing and doesn't give them any money. They are in there for about three minutes threatening him until finally they give up," explained Lt. George McClay.
At one point during the robbery, one of the gunmen opened fire, shooting the employee in the leg. He was taken to Albert Einstein Medical Center for treatment.Having obtained no money, both suspects then fled to the 6200 block of Gratz Street, where they got into an awaiting silver four door sedan with tinted windows, occupied by two additional males. The vehicle, which authorities say is possibly a Ford, then fled in an unknown direction.
Police say convenience stores often don't keep much cash on hand late at night.
"You don't want to rob anybody anyway, but there is nothing there for them to get. You need to stop this nonsense," said Lt. McClay.
Customers agreed. They are not surprised to hear of an armed robbery especially at this time of year, but they were sad to hear it was a young clerk they know who was injured.
"People get desperate," said Eddie Woodbury. "They look at people according to what they have on or what they hear on the street and think they can just do that."
"It's stupid – senseless," said Phil Laws. "It's just senseless."
The first suspect is described as a black male with a light brown complexion, late teens to early 20 years-of-age, medium/muscular build, wearing a half mask covering his face and armed with a handgun.the second suspect is described as a black male, medium to dark complexion, late teens to early 20 years-of-age, medium/stocky build, wearing a full mask covering his face and armed with a handgun.
7-Eleven is putting up a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the person or people responsible.
Anyone with information is asked to call Philadelphia Police or the Citizens Crime Commission at 215-546-TIPS.
