A robbery in Richmond County left a store without someone employees considers family.
It’s a different energy when you walk into McBean Package Store in Hephzibah. A place where it was once filled with smiles and joy is now filled with heartbreak.
The Richmond County Sheriff’s Office released an incident report that details an armed robbery on Thursday afternoon at the liquor store.
It states a man wearing a tan mask and hoodie rang the doorbell and then forced his way inside, demanded money from the employee and fired several gunshots from a handgun, and shot the owner’s dog. Also, the employee was forced into the cooler where she was blocked in.
But the alleged robber took something valuable than money from both of the cash registers. He took the life of a lovable store dog named Blue.
Kelly Wise works at McBean and she wonders why the suspect had to shoot Blue, a dog she says was probably already scared from the previous gun shoots.
“It was unnecessary entirely and he shouldn’t have done it,” said Wise. “Especially when the dog was staring at you not even growling, he was just afraid.”
Wise adds that coming into work from now on will never be the same. She says she will miss the customers bringing Blue dog treats whenever they would come in to buy something. But what she says she will miss the most is talking to McBean’s furry employee during down times.
“Everybody loved him, he was my best friend,” said Wise. “I would come in here on these long hour days and talk to the dog, and he would look at me like what?”
Employees told NewsChannel 6 this is the fourth time the liquor store has been robbed and now they are demanding justice for Blue. Blue would have turned two-years-old next month.
