Teens arrested after clerk shot, wounded during robbery at Bryn Mawr neighborhood market

Teenage robbers suspected of carrying out numerous violent crimes shot a clerk in a neighborhood market west of downtown Minneapolis before fleeing the scene in a stolen vehicle, authorities said.

Three of the four suspects were arrested for their roles in the robbery, which occurred about 11:30 a.m. Wednesday at the Bryn Mawr Market, on S. Cedar Lake Road just west of Penn Avenue, police said Thursday afternoon.

The clerk, a 20-year-old woman working at the market during her college break, was also pistol-whipped, according to police. She underwent surgery for gunshot wounds and is seriously wounded but expected to survive, police added.

"When the … cashier was not able to open the register, one of the suspects shot her in the foot," a statement from police read. "While leaving the business, one suspect punched the cashier in the face and another suspect shot her in the torso."

The suspects fled in a vehicle that had been previously taken in a carjacking in St. Paul, the statement continued.

Within eight hours of the initial incident, investigators arrested three of the suspects, found the vehicle and recovered a handgun in Minneapolis, according to police.

Those arrested — boys ages 14, 15 and 16 — are being held in the Hennepin County Juvenile Detention Center on suspicion of second-degree assault and aggravated robbery.

All four suspects, police alleged, also are being investigated in connection with numerous robberies and carjackings in Minneapolis.

A woman who lives down the street from the market, Rose Miller, has begun an online fundraising campaign on behalf of the store and the wounded clerk. Miller said on the page that the market has been robbed numerous times in the past several months.

"Let's help them rebuild from this difficult period by fundraising what we can for the employee who was hurt, the cost of lost business, repairs needed, added security, or anything else they might require to continue being our beloved local spot," Miller wrote.

In barely a day, the campaign has raised more than $17,000 as of Thursday afternoon and has collected numerous warm and appreciative comments about the store.

"Bryn Mawr Market is always here for our community," wrote a woman who donated $100. "Thanks for standing strong in the face of much pain."

Miller said in an interview Thursday that "I was going to get a lunch, and I saw [the woman] getting brought out on a stretcher."

She said she has been in touch with a friend of the clerk's family.

"I do know that she's going to be OK," Miller said.

In the eight years since she moved to the neighborhood, Miller said, "the market has always been there. I might need some sugar for a recipe, or I'm having a late-night ice cream craving."

Anyone with information about this crime is urged to CrimeStoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477). Tips may be submitted electronically at CrimeStoppersMN.org. All tips are anonymous, and anyone providing information leading to an arrest and conviction may be eligible for a reward.