Gunpoint robbery: Youth raids Auckland bottle store, video shows terrified worker | T-10 NEWS

A terrified shop assistant had a gun brandished in his face by a youth who raided a Grey Lynn bottle store yesterday afternoon as children walked past on their way home from school.

Sekhar Reddy, the owner of the Fine-O-Wine store, said the offender had been walking around outside the block of 14 shops while children were on their way home from school.

The offender waited until a second assistant in the wine store disappeared out the back before running into the store and tackling the worker who was restocking a fridge near the doorway.

The offender, who appeared to be aged about 16, angrily pointed the gun close to the assistant’s face and knocked him to the ground while repeatedly shouting: “Don’t f***king move or you’ll get a bullet in your head.”

The worker got to his knees with his hands in the air and then stood, moving slowly backwards while the youth kept yelling: “Do you want a bullet?”

Reddy said his assistant was too upset to return to work.

“My staff member is in trauma now. He can’t speak. The gun was pointed at his head.”

The youth wrestled with the till and pulled out cables before finding a key and opening the drawer. He grabbed more than $300 in cash before fleeing, still brandishing the gun as he ran down the street. He then leapt over a fence and disappeared into a nearby Countdown carpark.

Reddy, who owns three bottle shops, said he was shocked by the incident. His stores had suffered smash-and-grab raids before but not with weapons involved.

“We are a fine wine shop. We don’t sell RTDs or cigarettes. We try to keep out of trouble and then this happens.”

The offender, who was wearing dark-coloured shorts and a red hoodie, has yet to be apprehended.

A police spokesperson said that at 3.47pm police responded to a report of an aggravated robbery at a store on Great North Rd.

An offender allegedly entered the store and presented what appeared to be a firearm, before stealing cash from the till and fleeing the store.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Police on 105 referencing P052282299.