Starbucks Employee Helps Foil Armed Robber

ATLANTA — Employees and customers went scrambling when an armed man walked into a Starbucks coffee shop on Moreland Avenue Thursday night.

"I was just going to make sure everybody got out of there," said employee Katy Ashton.

Ashton said she was getting ready to close with two customers inside Thursday night when a masked man came in.

"A guy with a ski mask and a gun came in and forced them to lay on the floor and then tried to force my co-worker into the back room," Ashton said.

Ashton told Channel 2 Action News reporter Tom Regan that the masked man yelled at her to open the safe in the back, but the safe was on a timer. Ashton said her gut reaction was to just get out.

"I wasn't going to let him keep us back there. So I just bolted out of the back door and yelled, "Run!". My co-workers followed me," Ashton said.

Her running gave the customers a chance to escape. Ashton said the masked man ran out the back door after the commotion.

But Ashton doesn't take all the credit for foiling the armed robbery.

"Everybody did exactly what they were supposed to do. It was a combination of efforts that we acted the right way in the situation," Ashton said.

The masked man left empty-handed, apparently missing the cash sitting on the counter.

Police said they are searching for the robber.

WSBTV