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COLERAIN – The Bertie County Sheriff’s Office continues to investigate an armed robbery that occurred here last Friday in which an undetermined amount of cash was taken, and a store clerk was shot.

The robbery happened at the Family Dollar discount store on NC Hwy 45 just south of the town.

According to Bertie County Sheriff John Holley, his office received a call around 11:30 a.m. Friday that two black males had entered the store a short time earlier. One of the suspects, brandishing a firearm, then jumped over the counter and demanded money.

During a verbal exchange with the clerk on duty, the suspect discharged two shots, one of which ricocheted off the concrete floor, striking the cashier in the arm and causing a small glancing wound to her forearm. The clerk was treated at the scene by Bertie County EMS as the injuries did not require hospitalization.

The suspects then retrieved the cash and fled on foot with the loot, exiting the store’s front and retreating into the wooded area adjacent to and directly behind the store.

The Ahoskie Police Department’s K9 Unit under Sgt. Michael Kellett was later called to the scene and assisted in the search, hoping to pick up the scent of a trail.

As a precaution with the incident, both Colerain Primary Care at the corner of River and Cedar Streets, along with Colerain Elementary School on Academy Street were both immediately placed on lockdown, which was later lifted sometime after 12:30 p.m. that same afternoon.

This latest larceny marks the second time in less than one year the same Family Dollar store has been held up.

Holley said the investigation is still ongoing, and thanked the other law enforcement agencies who have participated so far.