A POST OFFICE in Co. Tyrone was robbed by two men wielding a machete and a hammer.
It's been reported that three robbers entered a post office in Creggan, near Omagh just after 7.30pm on Thursday evening.
One of them stayed by the door while the other two approached the tills, according to the BBC.
The robbers allegedly started trying to smash open one of the tills with the hammer, before threatening two young female members of staff with their weapons, demanding that they open it up.
After getting the till open, the men stole the cash inside, and managed to lift another till out and remove it before leaving.
The staff members - believed to be 16-years-old and 18-years-old were unharmed but left understandably shaken by the experience.
"It was all done in 10 or 12 seconds," the shop owner said.
"Nobody was hurt. The two girls handled themselves very well...they did what they were trained to do.
"The shop is in an isolated area. These days it is not a case of if something like this might happen, but when."
Councillor Emmet McAleer, who knows one of the teenagers and her family and spoke with them following the robbery, said there was shock in the community that this type of incident could happen in what he described as a quiet, rural area.
"I do not think there has been something so sinister that has happened before," he said.
"This was quite a dangerous situation with one armed with a machete. I can only imagine the emotional and psychological effect this might have on a fairly vulnerable young person," Councillor McAleer said.
According to reports, one of the robbers was wearing a black hoodie and a black scarf covering his face, black jogging bottoms, white/grey trainers and black gloves.
He was armed with a claw hammer with a black and yellow grip.
Another was wearing a grey hoodie top, a black scarf covering his face, blue/light blue tracksuit bottoms, grey trainers and grey gloves.
He was armed with a machete with a red handle.
The third was wearing a blue and grey hoodie top, a black mask, grey jogging bottoms, white trainers and grey gloves.
Police have appealed for anyone with information to contact them.
