A crazed axeman on a pedal bike attacked a Canberra jewellery store in broad daylight on a busy shopping day over the weekend - and then came back and did it again.
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Terrified staff witnessed the first raid on McGlades Jewellers on City Walk just after ten o'clock on Saturday morning and then had to relive the horror five hours later when the masked robber tried a second time.
The first time, he used a hammer which failed to break a big enough hole in the toughened glass.
The second time, he returned with an axe.
Two brave brave witnesses confronted the armed raider to be told: "Get back, I've got an axe."
One of the people who confronted the robber was within a metre of him, able to see the whites of his eyes and well within the reach of the axeman and his weapon.
Owner Jenny Brogan described the first raid with the hammer: "After two hits, he seems to be spooked and rides off. Meanwhile, inside the store, we had three female workers on the floor and we had two customers in the store at the time.
"The team's initial thought was that it was a gun shot."
When the man failed and rode off, the police were called.
Their presence reassured the staff.
Nobody imagined the raider would return.
But he did - this time with a new weapon.
"He began smashing the window with the axe again and again," Jenny Brogan told The Canberra Times.
The three staff-members were inside, right by the window when the axe ripped through the windows they were next to.
"The customers were in a panic, ducking and running. One customer ran past a team member and through to our back office then hid in our store room," Mrs Brogan said.
All the same, two of the people in the shop rushed out and confronted the axeman.
He waved the weapon at them but got frightened by their bravery. He tried to ride off, wobbled and dropped the bike, fleeing through Myers. The owner thinks people must have seen him and she wants him caught.
"It's disgusting what he did. It's the fear that he put into people. It makes you feel sick seeing how frightened they were. This robber needs to be caught.
"He can't terrorise people and he can't terrorise us."
After the raids, the store hired a security guard and the shop reopened on Sunday with the new protection.
"We will not be defeated. We are not going to be scared," Mrs Brogan said.
She described the double raider as "wearing a blue shirt, a black hat with the letters YMCMB on it, blue jeans, a black face mask with what appeared to be a skull on the front, white trainers with red laces and a side bag (brand Under Armour)".
The ACT police's Crime Stoppers number is 1800 333 000.
The police say, "Call Crime Stoppers if you have information about a crime. You may remain anonymous.
"Every piece of information is important."