Clerk Shot In Robbery At Lawrence Store
LAWRENCE (CBS) – A clerk was shot during a robbery at a store in Lawrence Wednesday morning.
Police said two masked men went into the Adoni Solutions store on Lawrence Street around 9:45 a.m. and one of them had a gun. There was an "altercation," according to investigators, and a single shot was fired, hitting the clerk. He was rushed to Lawrence General Hospital.
"He is conscious and alert and his injuries do not appear to be life-threatening at this time," police said in a statement.
People who entered the store after the shooting told WBZ-TV that the clerk was shot in his "right-hip area" and that the two men ran away without any money.
Neighboring business owners suspect the store named Adoni Solutions was targeted because it runs a money transfer service. "I don't feel safe anymore," said a local merchant who wanted to remain anonymous. "I'm just nervous. I couldn't even work today, you know. I'm just shaking because I just, oh my God, that could happen to me this morning."
Police said detectives are "following up on several promising leads."
"There were some shots early this morning," said Georges El Haghel, who lives up the street. "I'm from Lebanon, Beirut, Lebanon. I left there because war, and now it sounds like Beirut over here in Lawrence," he said.
Neighbor Claudio Valenzuela said he knows the victim. "This guy, nice guy. I don't know why. Some people, you know, not right. Some people go crazy."
No other information is available at this point in the investigation.