[chris]

Two employees at a Family Dollar store in Wilmington, North Carolina, were struck with a handgun during an armed robbery around 10 p.m. Friday, August 11, 2014, according to the Wilmington Police Department.

Officers were called to the store near the intersection of Carolina Beach Road and Shipyard Boulevard. Police said the workers were closing the store for the night when a masked man came around a corner inside and ordered them to open the safe, warning that he would kill them if they refused.

When the employees did not move fast enough, the man struck both of them with his handgun, police said. He then grabbed cash from the registers and safe and ran from the store.

One clerk reached a 911 dispatcher during the robbery. Responding officers found both workers on the floor behind the checkout counters and had them taken to a hospital for treatment. Their names, ages and conditions were not released.

Police described the suspect as a man about 6 feet 2 inches tall and 200 pounds, dressed in black gloves, black pants and a long-sleeved shirt, with a mask covering his face. No arrest has been publicly reported in the case, and the Wilmington Police Department asked anyone with information to call (910) 791-8070.