Cops inspect the Presto gas station ,2323 Iowa. A suspect robbed the gas station with a gun Thursday evening around 9:00PM. No one was hurt in the robbery.

A man held a gun a few feet from the heads of two clerks and robbed a convenience store of about $400 Thursday night near 23rd and Iowa streets.

“It could have been one of those fake, BB-type ones, but I wasn’t about to test it. It looked awfully real to me,” said Matthew Downing, a clerk at Presto Convenience Store, 2330 Iowa.

Police were investigating the robbery there just after 9 p.m. The crime, which took only seconds, forced the 24-hour store and gas station to close.

Downing described the suspect as a light-skinned black male around 20 years old, about 5 feet 5 inches, with a white shirt and baggy blue jeans. A blue handkerchief covered his face, and he had an Afro.

He ran away to the south after he grabbed the money from the counter, Downing said.

Another man, about 6 feet tall with his hair pulled into a bun, was an apparent lookout outside the store and ran to the north after the robbery, said Downing, who has worked there for about two months.

Presto store manager Shakerah Underwood,left waves to a store employee outside the store as Officer Keith Jones props the store door open Thursday evening. A suspect robbed the Presto gas station ,2330 Iowa with a gun Thursday evening around 9:00PM. No one was hurt in the robbery.

He said the man with what appeared to be a single-barrel pump shotgun stormed into the store and began to scream and curse. The only customer inside followed orders and dropped to the ground.

With the gun near his face, Downing emptied the register and placed the cash onto the counter.

“Just give him what he wants. It ain’t worth dying over,” Downing said, recalling his thoughts.

After it was over, the clerks gave the customer, who was inside during the ordeal, his items for free, Downing said.

Police continued to investigate the robbery and interview witnesses late Thursday night.

“I’m just glad it’s over. I was nervous at the time, but it didn’t really kick in until he left. Then my heart rate caught up with me,” Downing said.