CCTV captures shotgun drama at shop

This is the terrifying moment a shotgun-wielding robber pointed his weapon at a Black Country shopkeeper and forced him to empty the till.

Dramatic CCTV footage captured the raider, who spent less than 50 seconds holding up the Sekhon store in Whitmore Reans, Wolverhampton, in broad daylight.

The gunman can be seen casually walking into the shop wearing a heavy winter coat with the hood pulled up.

He pauses and looks around as two other customers prepare to leave.

Once they have gone, the robber walks to the counter and aims the weapon at boss Amrik Sekhon's chest as he forces him to hand over cash.

The gunman turns towards the camera twice and reveals the weapon as Mr Sekhon takes money from his till.

He flees after spending just 50 seconds in the Lowe Street shop before Mr Sekhon activates an alarm and gives chase.

Mr Sekhon, who has an eight-year-old son and 12-year-old daughter, told today how he had been preparing to pick his children up from school when the drama happened at around 3pm on Tuesday.

He said: "Luckily the children and my wife Kamaljit Kaur were out of the shop at the time and we had just emptied the till an hour ago. He just swore at me and said 'Open the till'. At first I thought he was playing a joke but when he pointed the gun at me I realised he wasn't.

"I just kept looking at the gun. If it had been a stick or something you would have a go at stopping them, but when a gun is pointing in your face you're not going to risk it.

"There was no point arguing with him. You can make money back but you can't take your life back."

Mr Sekhon lost sight of the robber in Devoran Close. Today he called for better CCTV coverage in the area to deter and catch criminals.

He said: "You can never tell if it is a one-off or if it is going to happen again.

"I am not going to move the shop just because of this incident. With guns it's an everyday thing nowadays."

Police, who arrived eight minutes after the raid, were investigating today and urged anyone with information to contact officers on 0845 113 5000.