FENTON, Mo. — "Something like this has never happened out here before," said Quik Stop gas station clerk Tammy Walker. "It's just close to my heart."
She's talking about the events of Wednesday morning, when two armed robbers hit the Quik Stop shortly after it opened at 6 a.m.
Walker said the chilling crime gave her boss the scare of her life.
"She was in here all alone. I cried with her this morning. I just hugged her. Held her. It was scary stuff," said Walker.
Walker said the two armed robbers stormed through the gas station's front door on Gravois Road.
The robbers covered their heads with hoodies and their faces with masks.
"I call them cowards. My boss immediately looked at them, smiled and said 'Hi.' And that's when the gun went straight to her face," said Walker.
A security camera caught on video one of the robbers pointing a 12 gauge shotgun at the owner's face.
"That shotgun was as long as an ice-cream container we have in our store. Now, how scary was that for a person? I mean, waving a shotgun around like that. It could've accidentally went off and she could have been killed, but thankfully she did what they said and gave them what they wanted," Walker said.
The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office said the shotgun-slinging robber then ordered the owner to empty the cash register.
They say the other suspect busted open two slot machines with a claw hammer and stole more money.
The robbers then dashed out the same front door, hopped in a car and sped away.
The tiny gas station is loaded with about a dozen security cameras. The cameras are inside and outside, but the robbers didn't care.
They just wanted the money.
"Oh my God, I just can't believe it," said frequent customer Carol Hofer. "I feel so sorry for the woman. I come into this place all the time."
"Anything could have happened to her," said customer Don Marks. "I'm glad she's okay. She really is lucky," said
Tammy Walker is so thankful her 36-year-old boss, who has three small children, survived the nightmare one week before Christmas.
"I mean, she has little kids all under 7. She's alive, that is the blessing," said Walker. "And whoever did it, I hope you are caught. Shame on you."
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