Police are not clear if the gunman fired the shot as a warning.
SPRINGFIELD – Two masked men who robbed a convenience store on Pearl Street Wednesday night fired a shot at the store clerk who followed them outside, police said.
The clerk was not injured, and police were not clear if the shooter was taking aim at the clerk or firing a warning shot in the air, said police Capt. Cheryl C. Clapprood.
The robbery was reported at J&J Convenience Store, 52 Pearl St., shortly after 9 p.m.
Police were looking for two men, one of whom left the scene in a late model Nissan Maxima, and the other who took off on foot, Clapprood said.
Once the shot was fire, the man in the car sped away from the scene, leaving the other man behind, she said.
The robber who ran off was described as Hispanic, and wearing a black vest over a red jacket, blue jeans and a baseball cap. He was armed with a semiautomatic handgun with a red laser sight, she said.
City and state police were searching the neighborhood surrounding the scene for the man, but as of 10:30 p.m. there were no arrests, she said.
The robbery and shooting occurred two blocks west of police headquarters at 130 Pearl St.