Brenda Green, 34, was walking into Gwinn’s Drug Store, 505 N. Madison Ave., when she saw the man who had just robbed the store walk by her. Police are still looking for the masked man.

“I was walking in, as the gunman was walking out,” she said. “He’s coming out, and he’s got a silver cane and a mask over his face.”

Everyone inside the store was laying on the ground, Green said.

Shortly before 1 p.m., Anderson police were called to the drug store in response to an armed robbery. According to police, the man stole money and prescription medication from the store. The suspect is white, in his mid-30s and posed as a cancer patient, according to police.

This was not the first time the drug store has been hit by thieves. According to an article in The Herald Bulletin, police were investigating a string of burglaries in March 2007.

At that time, store owner Jim Hoffman said the drug store’s phone lines were cut, but the burglars did not make it into the business. Hoffman said the attempt was unusual.

On Friday, Gary Addison, owner of the Anderson Barber Shop next door to the drug store, repeated the same thing.

“For the most part, we don’t have that much drama go on,” he said. “I do my best to thwart that with video surveillance. I’m a small business owner, so if they come in, they’ll get the money, but at least I’ll have a picture of them doing it.”

Addison said the building was built in 1903 and a drug store has been part of it for the majority of the building’s existance.

“It’s one of the last independent drug stores left in time,” he said.

After the robbery, Hoffman closed the store for a couple of hours to talk to police.