AN ARMED raider threatened three members of staff with a gun in a cash raid on a post office yesterday.
An Post said a firearm was held to the head of the postmistress’s husband in the raid by a masked man at Riverstown, Co Sligo.
Gardaí were called to the scene after the 10am raid.
As the masked raider brandished a gun, he reached across the counter and grabbed about €1,800 cash. Nobody was injured in the robbery.
One local said: “The community is stunned and we know the post office staff are terribly shocked by what happened.
“You don’t expect something like this in a quiet spot like Riverstown.”
Sligo county councillor Martin Baker, who lives in Riverstown, said the community was traumatised. “It’s an awful thing to happen in a small area. We have such a good local community.
“It’s just sad to think that there are people who would do anything to get a few pounds but to go in with a balaclava and have a gun in a small town like this is totally unacceptable.”
Gardaí found burnt clothing in a field near a housing estate about 500m from the post office.
They also found an imitation rifle dumped about 200m from the post office which is run by an elderly couple, Iris and Frank Barlowe, who live in an adjoining house.
There was one customer, a woman collecting children’s allowance, when the raider, described as tall and in his 30s, struck.
He snatched about €1,800 from money which the staff were counting.