Donut shop employee shot, critically wounded during holdup in Frankford section of Philadelphia
FRANKFORD (WPVI) -- A donut shop employee was shot in the chest during a robbery in the Frankford section of Philadelphia.
It happened before 3:20 p.m. Sunday at the Tasty Donut Shop on the 1500 block of Pratt Street.
Surveillance video shows the seconds before the armed robbery.
In the video, two men wearing black enter the store, one is wearing a mask. He pulls out money and orders a donut as the other man stands guard. Then he appears to brandish a black handgun. He then grabs an employee's arm and allegedly demands money from the register. He then jumps over the counter. As the employees attempt to run to the back of the store, police say the man with the gun fired at them.
"One of them, one of these cowards, actually shot one of the workers as she was trying to run out the back," said Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross. "Just a barbaric and cowardly act."
Police said the two men got just $500 from a bucket under the counter before fleeing the scene. The 38-year-old victim was lying on the floor with a gunshot wound through her back.
"Right now I believe she is going to survive," said Ross. "It's still early [to tell]."
But that's little comfort to this neighboring business owner, who asked us not to reveal his identity as he fears he could be next.
"Rarely has anything like this happened, at least on our block," he said. "This area is heavily protected. You always seek cops patrolling up and down the street. There are transit police across the street as well."
He frequents the donut shop and describes the worker who was shot as very kind and nice.
"She is very easy going," he said. "It is terrible what happened to her. I'm still trying to fathom that."
The video released by police also shows a bystander watching as the men run by. Police hope there is someone out there who can help them identify the suspects.
"We did recover some evidence from that scene," said Ross. "Hopefully the video will be enough that anyone who recognizes these individuals as they exited the store will be able to help us with that."
The wounded worker was transported to Jefferson-Torresdale Hospital where she was listed in critical condition.
Police have released the following descriptions of the suspects:
Suspect #1: Black male; unknown age; dark-skin; dark eyes; light beard; black coat, black hooded sweatshirt; armed with a black revolver handgun
Suspect #2: Black male; unknown age; black clothing, black mask, black gloves, black hooded sweatshirt; no weapon
Anyone with information about the suspects or crime is asked to contact Northeast Detectives.
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