Calgary police are hoping releasing surveillance video of an armed robbery at an antique store in December will lead them to the suspects.
Two masked and armed men stormed into Heirlooms Antiques Calgary at about 1:40 p.m. on Dec. 19 and proceeded to smash display cases and steal jewelry.
The first man, armed with a gun, ordered the employees to get on the ground, police said. In the surveillance video, the employees are seen frantically scrambling onto the store’s floor.
The second man, armed with what appears to be a hammer, starts smashing the display cases right above where one of the employees is huddled on the ground.
Police said the two men loaded duffle bags with jewelry before running away.
WATCH: A Calgary business owner is speaking out after going through a violent armed robbery. Tony Tighe spoke to the owner who is closing his business next month.
Store owner Bill Picken told Global News he and his wife have owned the business for 12 years and never had a daytime robbery.
Picken was the person seen in the surveillance video of the robbery wearing a red sweater.
“‘Down on the floor, down on the floor!'” Picken said the robbers yelled. “‘I’ll shoot you, I’ll kill you, down on the floor!'”
Picken said he and the other employee “did what we were told,” and thankfully no one was hurt.
“They took costume jewellery,” he said. “Sherman costume jewelry, which is rhinestone crystals. And they also took gold jewelry, gold and diamonds and pocket watches.”
Picken and his wife are retiring and closing the business at the end of February. He said the “terrifying” experience isn’t the way he imagined ending his career.
“This sure isn’t the way we wanted to retire,” he said. “This isn’t the sendoff we wanted.”
The first suspect was wearing grey sweatpants, a grey Adidas hoodie, a black face mask, black ball cap with a skeleton logo and was carrying a black duffle bag.
The second was wearing a black jacket with the hood up, a black face mask with a skeleton image on it, blue track pants, a black ball cap and was also carrying a large black duffle bag.
Anyone with information on the robbery is asked to contact Calgary police at 403-266-1234 or to contact Crime Stoppers.
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