CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — The owner of a Clayton County restaurant says he experienced the most terrifying moments of his life when two gunmen burst in and robbed him and his family.
Channel 2’s Tom Regan obtained video of the moments when the gunmen forced the family, including several children, to the floor and then made the store owner open a safe and the cash register.
John Nop owns the Boston Fish Market in Clayton County, which has only been open for a few months.
Nop said last Saturday night started out normal for his family-run restaurant but then, around 8 p.m., terror came through the front door.
“I looked up. All I saw was the barrel in my head,” Nop said. “(They came) straight up on me and just pulled a gun in my face.”
TRENDING STORIES:
- Photos of couple killed in Alabama tornado, injured son found 120 miles away
- Here are the worst times to drive in Atlanta for Christmas 2019
- Here’s why you saw a mysterious streak over metro Atlanta Friday morning
Nop said one of the men ordered his children to lay on the floor as a second man walked in, also holding a gun.
“He asked me to take them to the safe. I said, 'I don't know where it is.' They said, 'You're the owner, you know where it is,'” Nop said.
That when Nop said one of the robbers took him to the back room.
“Made me open the safe for them, had the gun to my face. They said, 'You go open for me,'” Nop said.
They emptied the safe and then ordered him to open the cash register. Nop told Regan that one of his four children got up to help him.
“What did they say to your kids?” Regan asked.
“'I'm going to kill your daddy,'” Nop said. “It's horrible, they're traumatized.”
“I'm very scared and frightened for my family and anyone else here," said Phirun Khoun, Nop’s wife.
The couple told Regan they would like to see more police patrols in the area. They also say there are not enough lights around the side and back of the restaurant, where the robbers are seen on security cameras walking around right before the holdup.
The couple says bulbs in the existing lights had been out, but Regan noticed someone arrive Friday afternoon to replace them a few hours after he called the leasing office for comment on this story.
“We are helpless here, and we’re trying to get as much help as we can because this place needs to be more safe," Khoun said.
Regan never heard back from the landlord.
Police said the robbers got away. They are asking anyone who may know who the men are to call Clayton County police at 770-477-3747.
© 2019 Cox Media Group
