Western Ave. store held up at gunpoint

LYNN – Police scoured the city searching for suspects Sunday night shortly after two men robbed a convenience store owner at gunpoint on Western Avenue.Shortly after 6:30 p.m., police responded to the Western Avenue Market at the corner of Chatham Street after a man allegedly held a weapon that appeared to be high-powered firearm to the female shopkeeper’s back and forced her on the ground before fleeing with at least $400.Storeowner and mother of four Amy Dang, 45, was still on edge when she spoke with the Item less than an hour after the robbery.”I’m okay,” Dang said. “I’m shaken up.”Dang’s daughter explained that the two men walked into the store and one of them approached the counter asking to buy cigarettes.”She went to go get it and a guy came around [the store counter] and put a gun to her back,” said Trinh Dang, 23.Amy Dang was alone in the store at the time.As the suspect held the gun to Amy’s back, she kneeled on the floor and opened the cash register, she said. An unsuspecting customer then walked into the store and the suspect ran and stuck the gun onto him, she added.Despite the fact that the store is clearly fitted with security cameras, the suspects robbed the store without wearing masks, the Dangs said.After the thieves fled the store, they jumped into a car – possibly with a loud muffler – and drove away, according to police.A woman walking her dog encountered the fleeing suspects outside the store, Amy Dang said.”One lady was walking with the dog and saw them,” Dang said. “She said, ‘They’re over there!'”The suspects were both Hispanic and one was shorter than the other, Dang added.Police actively searched the area and stopped a handful of vehicles fitting the description of the suspects shortly after the robbery.As of press time, no arrests were made.The family said Sunday’s robbery was the store’s first since they opened it five months ago. However, the Dangs used to own a market on Essex Street, which Trinh Dang said was robbed “all the time.””We just thought this was a safer place. This is Western Ave.,” she said.