Gunshots were fired during an armed robbery of The Pharmacy in Mt. Olive on Saturday.

A man wearing a light blue hoodie with a white scarf over his face (possibly a surgical mask) and sunglasses entered the business at about 10:40 a.m. and demanded Xanax and methadone from the staff, saying he wouldn’t hurt anybody if they complied.

The suspect was armed with a small black automatic pistol, according to a report provided by Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Randy Christian.

Sherry Mullenix, one of the owners of the Pharmacy, said employees filled up a plastic bag that the robber was carrying with generic Xanax and methadone from the pharmacy’s safe. According to Mullenix, the robber said “Sorry about that, y’all,” before heading towards the door.

As he was leaving, Steve Mullenix, Sherry’s husband and co-owner of the business, fired several shots at the suspect with a nine millimeter handgun.

“I told him not to,” said Sherry, who was lying prone on the floor at the time.

Sherry said the shots caused the suspect to drop the bag of stolen drugs, and he may have returned fire. The sheriff’s office said there was no indication that the suspect was hit.

Pharmacy technician Donna Fassina and two customers were also in the store when the robbery occurred. Sherry said one customer thought the robber was trick-or-treating until the shots were fired.

Another customer saw the robber drive up to the pharmacy and, becoming suspicious, waited for him to leave and followed him a short distance so that she could provide a description of the suspect’s car to deputies.

“It’s great that the community aided us,” said Steve Mullenix. “It shows that we’re watching out for each other.”

Deputies are looking for a black male who is 6 feet, 2 inches tall. He was driving a late 90s red Toyota Camry. A blue hoodie was recovered in the 500 block of Springdale Road. Christian said the suspect is still at large.

Sherry said all the drugs were recovered except for one bottle of methadone and one bottle of generic Xanax. Another bottle of methadone was damaged and cannot be used.