The robber became so upset that the 17-year-old deli clerk wasn't moving fast enough at the cash register, that he fired a warning shot.
"I was scared, that was the first time I saw a gun in my life," said Sammy Mouthana, the victim.
It's a moment Sammy Mouthana would love to forget, staring down the barrel of a gun, but that's easier said than done.
"He put the gun straight up to the counter. He told the guy, 'Get down'. I tried to run away," Mouthana said.
Those minutes that felt like hours were all caught on the store's surveillance camera, including the bone chilling shot just over Sammy's shoulder.
"He shot one time. Coming this close to me," Mouthana said.
The suspect barged into the 24-hour deli at 3706 3rd Avenue in /*Morrisania*/ Wednesday morning, fired a warning shot, and so the terrified young clerk threw his hands in the air while a customer hit the floor.
"He told me, 'Put your arms up. Don't move.' I was scared and I gave him the money," Mouthana said.
The man made the immigrant from Yemen clean out the register.
He got away with about $150.
"He pulled out the gun over here, and he pointed the gun at the kid. The kid ran. He tried to open this door," said Amor Rashani, a store clerk.
Rashani knows what Sammy's going through.
He's been robbed behind this same counter several times.
He has a warning for other clerks who risk their lives to earn a living.
"I want everyone to be careful when it's raining because that's the best time to get robbed," Rashani said.
What do you do when someone's holding up your store?
Give him whatever he wants.
The video shows the suspect wearing a black Yankees cap and dark hooded sweatshirt.
