Labrador RCMP release photo of axe-wielding robber in tinted helmet

HAPPY VALLEY-GOOSE BAY, N.L. – It would be hard to imagine a more terrifying robber: A man carrying a large axe, dressed all in black, his face hidden behind a tinted black snowmobile helmet.

“I think I would just die right on the spot with a heart attack,” clerk Berdina Saunders said Thursday from the Labrador Spice Mini Mart in Happy Valley-Goose Bay.

She said she works with a young woman who was alone in the convenience store Saturday night during the frightening hold-up at around 9:30 p.m.

“What a sin.”

RCMP Cpl. Rick Mills has spent nine years in the region and said he has never seen a convenience store robbery quite like it.

The axe-wielding man demanded cash and was gone in less than a minute with an undisclosed amount, he said in an interview. No physical injuries or damage to the store were reported.

RCMP released a striking photograph of the robber and are asking the public’s help to make an arrest.

“It’s not something you see very often,” Mills said.

Saunders has worked at the store since last May and has never been robbed. She said she can almost imagine what her co-worker is going through as she takes some time off to regroup.

“I almost burst out crying when I heard that it happened when she was on.”

Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers.