Gunmen terrorize customers in gas station robberies

ATLANTA - Newly released surveillance video shows a group of dangerous armed robbers who surrounded customers including a child during a robbery at a gas station.

Atlanta investigators released multiple images asking for help to identify the group of men who held up several gas stations in one night.

Surveillance footage shows the armed thieves check their surroundings before beginning a couple of minutes of mayhem in a gas station store.

"The one at the door had a long gun in his hand. The two that were inside the store - one had a handgun and the other had an assault pistol," Atlanta Police Captain Reginald Moorman said.

The thieves, who used rubber surgical masks to cover their faces, moved around the child dressed in red who was just trying to purchase an RC Cola.

They eventually get the cash and move on in what authorities said was a busy night.

All of the Atlanta locations are on the Westside. One video shows a clerk quickly snatch cash from his register to hand over. He then displays the register drawer to show the gun-toting men it was empty.

But not all went as planned for the criminals. At a third location, the clerk is seen ducking down behind a glass. The thieves see him come back up with a gun and they run out the store.

These might not have been all the locations the suspects targeted. Officials said a similar case happened in DeKalb County that same night.