2 in custody in connection with Huntersville armed robbery

HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. — Two people were placed into custody Friday night after an armed robbery that happened at La Mexicana in Huntersville.

No one was injured in the robbery at Sherrill Estates Road, police said.

The two men fled in a vehicle onto Interstate 77 before officers forced them off the road. The men jumped out of the car and ran off. Police blocked a lane of I-77 southbound near mile marker 21 during the search.

"Well, we just heard a lot of noise," witness Lauren Walters said. "We just heard an initial boom."

She had walked out of her apartment on Reese Boulevard when police told her to go back inside.

Police searched the woods at the Waterford at the Park apartments near Mount Holly-Huntersville Road.

Walters, who lives at those apartments, saw a man running with police running after him.

"He took off running and police were out here with assault rifles," Walters said. "I mean it was really intense."

Shortly after that, she saw someone in custody.

A couple of hours later, police said a second suspect was in custody at the intersection of Hambright and Mount Holly-Huntersville roads.

Walters said she was grateful the incident was over.

"It's terrifying because you're almost scared to be in your own home, and you don't know really what's going on,” she said. “You have no answers."

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