SALISBURY, N.C. — Several shaken families in Salisbury are trying to recover after a violent bank robbery on Thursday.
Two people were shot and other families were hit by the robber when he tried to escape in a stolen car.
"He could've shot us. We were in his way, literally, we were in his way," Zanita Robinson said.
She said the robber crashed into her after he stole a getaway car.
"On the phone with 911, they told me the person that just hit you just robbed the Wells Fargo," Robinson said.
Police on Friday identified the robber as 25-year-old Paul Jones III.
On Thursday night, Jones held up the bank on Jake Alexander Boulevard and shot a customer.
Jones also shot another person, carjacked them and took off, smashing into other cars in his wild effort to escape -- that's when he crossed paths with Robinson.
The Charlotte woman had just picked up her daughter and her daughter's friend from Livingstone College. She traveled to Salisbury to celebrate her birthday with them. They were all on their way to dinner when Jones swiped the front end of their car.
"Because my shoulder popped out of place during the accident, I couldn't open the car door," Robinson's daughter, Khai Harris, said.
Harris heard police shoot and kill Jones after he crashed a few blocks away.
"I think it's awful that it's all just because someone needed money," Harris said.
Robinson said she still can't believe it happened on her 43rd birthday, however, she's just glad she lived to see the next day.
"He needed to be stopped because there were a lot more people that could've been hurt that day," she said.
Robinson told Channel 9 that she didn't know what to do because she was driving a rental car. She said she was hysterical after the crash, but police and first responders helped her and her daughter get the help they needed.
Harris runs track at Livingstone College, so it's possible she'll have to sit on the sidelines next month while she's recovering from her shoulder injury.
Read more top trending stories on wsoctv.com:
- Witness 'played dead' as man robbed Salisbury bank, fired shots
- Retired Navy vet accused of killing girl found on Charlotte church lawn
- Officials' handling of Cabarrus Co. high schools bomb threat concerns parents
- WATCH: Keith Monday's Friday forecast outlook
- Students scale 137-foot crane, UNCC officials say
Cox Media Group
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/LH3JSJEF3VBLRJLJQESEAG34AM.png)
