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Authorities across North Carolina are searching for a man in a Hulk mask. Here’s what he did.

Posted at 2:22 PM, Mar 15, 2019
and last updated 2019-03-15 14:22:09-04

KERNERSVILLE, N.C. - Authorities around the state are searching for a man accused of robbing Aldi stores at gunpoint while wearing a Hulk Halloween mask.

Police said the man walked through the front doors of the Aldi in Kernersville around 8:50 a.m. They said he was wearing the mask and reflective vest and was armed with a handgun.

“Once we got down to the second isle, we could hear some kind of a thud,” said customer Jennifer Irizarry, who was inside at the time.

Detectives said he threatened staff members and forced some into an office. Customers said a cashier told them she was held at gunpoint.

“She looked a little pale, stunned, scared, nervous and just in shock” Irizarry said. “Plain shock.”

The man got away with an undisclosed amount of cash. Some customers had no idea anything had happened until they tried to pay.

“As soon as we got up to the front register to pay, and that’s when she told us what had happened and we were like pretty stunned, because we could hear what was going on but we couldn’t really make out what it was,” Irizarry said.

In the hours following, dozens of potential customers were greeted by a line of crime scene tape at the store.

“At first I thought it was a fire because there’s hardly any robberies in Kernersville,” resident Diane Brown said. “It’s a very safe area.”

Yet, many of them recognized that the store’s location makes it an easy target.

“They can get off the interstate, come in and do it and then get right back on,” Brown said.

No one was injured in the robbery.

“I’m glad I wasn’t here, because if I was here my heart would have probably stopped,” Brown said.

Investigators said they believe the same man has committed several armed robberies across the state while wearing the same mask.