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Westside grocery store robbed by armed men in broad daylight

Within minutes police began scouring the area for the pair. Nearby residents watched on as they have done so many times before.

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A neighborhood grocery store in Corpus Christi's westside was robbed in broad daylight Tuesday by two armed men.

Police said it happened around 10 a.m. Two men carrying guns walked into the store at the corner of Mohawk and Huron and demanded money from the female owner, who was behind the counter.

She said she's been robbed more than a dozen times in the past 16 years, but she has never been more scared than she was on Tuesday.

"I've been here for 16 years, and we make a very honest living," Sofia Moreno said. "And this is most shocking because one was actually looking for the ATM machine with a big duffle bag. Since I don't have it, they were aiming at me and another was backed up with a gun with a mask."

Security video showed one of the robbers apparently forgot to don his mask, parading in front of the cameras as if it wasn't even there. When a second bandit walks in, he is apparently reminded by his cohort to "put it on."

"I mean the citizens have a right to protection of their business, and we want to catch these individuals to protect people's properties, businesses," said Sr. Officer Paulo Hernandez of the Corpus Christi Police Department.

Within minutes police began scouring the area for the pair. Nearby residents watched on as they have done so many times before.

"She's trying to make a living and it's just unfortunate that the neighborhood has turned to that, you know?" Robert Villarreal said. "Nowadays it's just easier for someone to hold a gun or a knife to somebody and demand something instead of going to work."

"It's upsetting," Violet Russell-Edwards said.

Russell-Edwards grew up in the westside community and now heads up Asset Based Community Development.

"Where we take the assetts that are based in our community to redevelop our community one block at a time, one neighbor at a time, one step at a time," Russell-Edwards said.

She and several of the neighbors have been organizing and meeting to fight back by uniting and being more vigilant.

"When we were children coming up we knew who that person was, or who our next door neighbors were," Russell-Edwards said. "Today we don't know their names, we don't know anything about them, and we know nothing about the neighborhood in which we live."

In the meantime, police continue to look for the two suspects. If you have any information about the crime that can help police, call them at 361-886-2600.

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