GARDAÍ IN Co Cork were last night hunting a lone raider who got away with over €15,000 after he held up two shop staff as they were returning with cash from a bank in north Co Cork yesterday afternoon.
Regional Response Unit members were deployed to assist with checkpoints, while gardaí carried out door-to-door inquiries.
The raid happened at about lunch hour on the Kanturk to Boherbue road when two staff from Supervalu in Boherbue, a male and female, were returning with a float of over €15,000, having earlier made a lodgement at Bank of Ireland in Kanturk.
The woman, in her late 40s, and the man, in his 20s, were flagged down by a man on a quiet section of road near Coolakerrin Cross, about four miles from Kanturk.
The man, who wore a balaclava and brandished what appeared to be a shotgun, demanded the staff hand over the cash before tying their hands with plastic grips.
The man took a mobile phone from one of them and ordered them not to look as him as he fled.
Gardaí were last night trying to establish whether he fled on foot, had a car or motorbike hidden nearby, or had accomplices.
The man and woman soon freed themselves and raised the alarm. Neither was injured but both were badly shaken. Gardaí have appealed to anyone who saw anything suspicious in Boherbue or Kanturk or on the road between 12.45pm and 1.45pm to contact them at Kanturk on 029-20680.