Customers flee grocery store as gunman enters with high-powered rifle

ATLANTA (FOX 5 Atlanta) - A man frightens customers when he enters a grocer cursing and carrying what police describe as an assault-style rifle.

It is not a robbery but a dispute between that unidentified man and the shop owner.

The merchant explained he had extended credit -- as he does with other shoppers -- so they could pick up items and settle up at the first of the month.

The gunman owed $10. He claimed, however, that his outstanding purchases had all been settled.

There is video showing the man inside the store -- arguing -- and then moments later he returns with the rifle and a warning to the grocer to say nothing else about it.

He did not fire a shot. But those few seconds were enough to send customers out of the store and forget about shopping on that afternoon.

Major Celeste Murphy, the commander of the southwest Zone 4, said her officers know the gunman lives near the grocer and are trying to find him. "Getting that gun off the street is our goal," Major Murphy said.