CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Police said a masked man with a gun robbed the East Coast Wings in Northlake right around lunchtime Wednesday.
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Officers were called to the busy area along Northlake Centre Parkway around 11:30 a.m.
Police said a man wearing a mask and carrying a handgun stormed in and stole cash from the restaurant. They said customers and employees were inside at the time.
A witness told Channel 9 people came running from the restaurant yelling for help and hid in a nearby business.
A woman, who is a clerk at a neighboring business, said she was outside across the street when the chaos started.
"It was a whole bunch of customers,” the woman, who did not want to be identified, said. “They were scared, like, come running out of the store -- the front door, the side door, the other side door. Employees (were) running out of the store."
They went to her for help, but she didn’t know what was happening.
"They were, like, 'We are getting robbed. We are getting robbed,'" the clerk said.
She let them into her store and locked the door.
She said some employees were crying, worried about the manager still inside with the armed robber.
Dozens of police, then, arrived at the scene.
Police are still searching for a suspect and no injuries were reported.
After the robbery, a sign was posted on the restaurant’s door saying it was closed due to “an unfortunate incident.”
No other details have been released.