By ROBIN SHANNON

L’Observateur

LAPLACE – Authorities in St. John are investigating an armed robbery at a LaPlace strip mall Thursday night, according to a release from the St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies were called out to a store at the strip mall, located in the 1500 block of West Airline Highway, just after 9:30 p.m. after employees reported the robbery, said Capt. Dane Clement, public information officer for the St. John Sheriff’s Office. Clement would not reveal the name of the store that was robbed.

Clement said three employees were inside the store closing for the night when two masked male subjects entered wearing black hooded sweatshirts and blue jeans. Both suspects were armed with black handguns, Clement said.

The suspects ordered two of the employees to lie on the floor and demanded that the third employee give them all the money from the register, Clement said.

The employee complied, and the two suspects fled the store. No one was injured during the incident, Clement said.

A witness told deputies that the two suspects fled from the front of mall area and around the corner of the mall near Carrollwood Drive. The two men then ran to the rear of the mall. Clement said deputies searched the area for the suspects, but were unable to locate them.

Any one with information regarding the robbery should call St. John Detectives at 985-359-8769 or Crimestoppers at 504-822-1111.