A dramatic, brazen daylight jewellery store robbery in Edmonton was caught on video Monday afternoon.
Masked robbers burst into Gold Star Jewellers in the Bonnie Doon shopping mall, causing havoc and destruction.
“They came in with hammers, just smashing, smashing, screaming to keep down,” said store manager Darlene Schell.
“It was so fast. It just… everything is gone. They’ve smashed everything.”
CCTV footage shared with CityNews shows four masked people wearing all black, faces covered, entering the store at 3:18 p.m., yelling at Schell and others to get down. They smashed glass cases with hammers and stuffed jewellery into bags. They were gone in under a minute.
Schell says they made off with gold chains, diamond pendants, emerald and ruby bracelets, and more.
“My first thought was, jump ’em, but I didn’t want to upset my part-time girl, so I stayed where I was. It pissed me off. I’m not happy about it, and I want my stuff back,” Schell told CityNews.
Schell, who’s worked at Gold Star for 13 years, says she loves everything about jewellery and takes pride in what she sells. This is not the first time the store has been robbed, but the first time she was there while it happened.
“When I saw what they did to my beautiful store, I got upset. I’m still not scared. I don’t think there’s much to be scared of when they’re cowards who can’t show their faces, when they’re cowards that come in here with hammers,” she said.
The owner estimates the robbers made off with more than $250,000 worth of jewellery.
While angered by the destruction in her workplace, Schell says she was impressed by bystanders in the mall who she says yelled and swore at the robbers, and by how security guards took care of her afterwards, treating the cuts on her knees from the glass.
“We are still standing,” she said. “We’re going to be here. We’re not going anywhere.”
Edmonton police confirm the robbery did happen Monday involving four suspects wearing all black masks and gloves, saying no firearms were involved. The EPS robbery section continues to investigate.