Violent Holmesburg pizza shop robbery caught on video

HOLMESBURG (WPVI) -- Surveillance video captured the scene as two gunmen entered a Holmesburg pizza shop just after midnight on April 29.

The assailants enter through the back door of John's New Pizzeria, with one of them appearing very agitated, waving a semi-automatic handgun.

"Shouting orders to them," said Philadelphia Police Lt. Dennis Rosenbaum. "Obviously, for the one man who seemed really aggressive, it wasn't fast enough for him. He fires a shot into the floor to get their attention."

One angle shows what happened after the gunman fired that shot.

In the booth are the shop's owners, their 14-year-old son and his girlfriend. One of the delivery men walks through the door and then they all quickly drop to the ground.

You can see a man holding open a bag, waiting for an employee to fill it with cash.

Police are very eager to get these men off the streets. Investigators are encouraged by the fact that this video is clear enough to capture very good images of the suspects' faces.

"We see hundreds of surveillance videos and this guy is really aggressive. And that is what we are afraid of," said Rosenbaum. "He didn't think twice about firing that shot in the floor or worry about hitting anybody. So that's why we're asking the public's help in taking a really close look at this video and see if you recognize these guys and call us with a tip."

Meanwhile, people who live nearby said the prevalence of crimes in the neighborhood like this one is truly a sign of the times.

"You know what, man, this neighborhood has been going down," said Chaim Gabay of Holmesburg. "There are just a lot of shady people around here."

Another neighbor, Bart Tur, agreed: "We're losing the battle to drugs, graffiti, car thefts."

Neighbor Bernadette Houck was happy no one was hurt.

"Everybody just wants to get their quick money any way they can get it," she said.

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