The armed robbery of a local neighborhood convenience store was more than just a robbery, it was an invasion of a family oriented business, and the owner hopes the community will help catch the person responsible.

A man walked into The Country Store on Cypress Lake Road and Brannen Drive around 9:30 a.m. Sunday, held a gun on the clerk and robbed her of cash and some cigarettes, said owner Bubba Revell, who is also a reserve deputy with the Bulloch County Sheriff's Office.

The suspect didn't wear a mask, and Revell hopes store video footage will help identify him.

"He just walked in and held us up," Revell said. "You wouldn't expect that on a Sunday morning."

He said the man is likely dangerous because he robbed the store in broad daylight, when anyone could have walked in, including neighborhood children.

"You could tell it wasn't his first rodeo," Revell said.

Bulloch County sheriff's Chief Deputy Jared Akins said the clerk was not injured, and the offender walked out with an undisclosed amount of cash. Revell said that the man demanded cigarettes as well.

"He walked in, put a gun in the clerk's face and held it on her the entire time," he said.

The clerk followed her training in her response to the robbery, and after he grabbed the cash and cigarettes, the suspect left on foot. No one saw a vehicle nearby, Revell said.

The incident has made local patrons angry, according to Revell.

"Customers are like family, and they feel this was done to them as well," he said.

Revell said that he was on the way to the store Sunday when he heard deputies dispatched there via radio. He said that he drove through nearby neighborhoods to search for the suspect while deputies and investigators handled the robbery scene.

When he arrived at the store, Statesboro police officers and Georgia State Patrol troopers were there to assist Bulloch County sheriff's deputies, he said.

"It really felt good to see the whole community" respond, he said.

Revell asks that anyone who may recognize the suspect or know anything about the crime call Investigator Walter Deal at (912) 764-8888 or the Bulloch County Sheriff's Office at (912) 764-1771.

Herald reporter Holli Deal Saxon may be reached at (912) 489-9414.