Lone gunman robs Casey’s

Two employees were in the store at the time: Shannon Watson, who has worked at Casey for seven years, and Jolene King, who has worked at the store for two years.

Both women were standing behind the counter. A juvenile had been in the store a few minutes earlier and left.

It was raining hard outside. The women describe the robber as a tall, thin white male. They say he entered the store in a rush, waving his right arm around. He was wearing a stocking cap pulled down over his face and a jacket with the hood pulled up.

He stumbled as he came in and both women, not seeing a gun at first, thought it was a joke.

Then the man approached the counter and demanded money from the cash register.

“He said ‘Give me the money!’” says Shannon. “After he’d said it the third or fourth time, he brought the gun out.”

The handgun had been concealed by his right sleeve.

“After I saw the gun, I froze,” says Jolene. “I was like a brick.”

Shannon surprised herself by acting calmly. She got the money out of the cash register and handed him the cash, about $123.

The robber ran out the door. Shannon watched him go east on Mill street. The women then locked the door and dialed 9-1-1.

“That’s when it hit me,” says Shannon. “He had a gun pointed at me. I started shaking, crying. I felt it all.”

Jolene says she was still in shock.

Gallatin Police Chief Jim Wycoff arrived at the store. According to his report, the suspect was armed with a silver colored revolver with light brown grips. He was wearing a tan or orange colored Carhartt style jacket with the hood pulled up. He had a stocking cap pulled down over his face. He left the store running north then east on Mill Street.

Though they can’t remember his face or name, both Jolene and Shannon believe the robber was someone who had been in the store other times, and had even been in the store earlier that evening.

“We know it’s somebody we know,” they say. “His voice sounded familiar.”

Chief Wycoff was the primary person on the call and was assisted by Sgt. Richards, Reserve Officer Lund (Gallatin Police Department), two deputies from the Daviess County Sheriff’’s Department and a Highway Patrol Officer.

The suspect has not been identified or charged at this time. Anyone with information may call the Gallatin Police Department on the non-emergency number, 660-663-3580.

This is the first time the Casey’s store at Gallatin has had an armed robbery. The store was robbed once before in the mid 1990s in what the employees describe as “an inside job.”

Jolene and Shannon are able to talk about the incident and laugh with relief that it’s over and no one was injured.

Casey’s management will offer them counseling if they feel they need it.

Both women say right now they don’t think they will need the counseling. Both are understandably jittery and add, “It’s going to take us a long time to get over this.”